Trapped within Shadows
by Sleeping Tiger
Summary: After leaving on a simple mission to stop an unknown assailant from attacking the tribe’s kittens, Munkustrap returns not quite the same. What happened to him that night, and what would the consequences be of finding out too late?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: There was much debate where I should post this story, under what pen name, whether I should post it at all, but I had so much fun writing it, and am so relieved this semester is (unofficially) over, that I just HAD to post something in celebration. A little different from what people usually see from me (hence the debate - and when I say debate, I mean me thinking about it for a while), but there are so many dark fics I don't post, that I thought I should break the ice with one of my darkest ones. I hope you enjoy, and I hope I accomplished what I set out to do with it. I worked very hard on it, and still am (the later chapters still need revising.)  
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_Now be aware, this is a MATURE rated fic! That means that it can be rated this way due to sexual content, strong language, blood and gore, and/or intense violence, and overall storyline that is intended for someone who can _handle _it. My story may or may not contain what's listed above and more, but yeah, it's rated Mature, and so you have been advised. _

_Disclaimer: Cats is not mine, it belongs to T.S.Eliot, Andrew Lloyd Webber, R.U.G., and whatnot, and thank God for their existence, or Cats would never exist, and I might have become obsessed with, I don't know, what's something random? ...Snails. I might have become obsessed with snails. Did you know that snails eat with their radula? (Heh, anyways...)  
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Chapter one –_**

Munkustrap sat in his den, daring to dream about anything that had to do with catnip, when all of a sudden he was pinned to the ground. He looked up to see Demeter sitting on his back, smiling devilishly.

"Got ya," she said.

"I _let_ you," he said, shifting his weight until Demeter fell off of him.

"Oh, sure," she said, beginning to get up, but the tom now pinned her arms to the ground. Demeter's brow went up, as she tried hard not to smile now that her mate was on top of her. "What makes you think I'm going to _let_ you do _that_, huh?"

He didn't need to answer. He just brought his lips to hers and began kissing her tenderly, becoming more passionate with each kiss. This grew in intensity until she let out a soft moan.

"Hmm," he said, pulling away and smiling down at her. "_That's_ what makes me think you're going to let me do that."

Demeter let out a fake sigh of disappointment. "I seem to have betrayed myself, haven't I?"

He kissed her on the neck, running his paw down her sides, causing her to squirm and gasp in surprise. "I'll stop if you ask me to," he said coyly, licking her cheek affectionately.

"No fair," she groaned. "You know I never would."

He gave a playful growl as he nipped at her ear. "I know."

There were voices somewhere in the junkyard, and it sounded either like an argument or some other form of disorder.

"Munkustrap," Demeter gasped, her ears perking up to the sound. "Don't you think you should--"

"Ignore it," he said. He was nibbling that one spot on her neck that made her gladly ignore any commotion in the tribe, even if it _did_ seem they were calling her mate's name. She hardly wanted him to hear _them_ calling his name before _she_ was doing so. So she began running her paws down his back, down his sides, until she caused him to moan as well. Things were just about to get a little more playful when--

"MUN-KUS-STRAP!" The tom broke apart from his mate and looked up in surprise to see Bombalurina standing at the entrance of their den with her paws on her hips. "No wonder you haven't been answering our calls," the queen accused.

Demeter, embarrassed, buried her face into Munkustrap's chest. The tom, however, took a different approach to being interrupted.

"WHAT?" he asked, growling for emphasis. He held Demeter close, bowing his head close to hers, as though trying to help her hide.

"You might want to take care of this. The kittens have been harassed on their way here, and I don't think we can ignore this."

"You mean you don't think _I_ can ignore it," Munkustrap corrected. He pulled Demeter with him to sit up, and the queen pulled away from the tom, not daring to look up at the intruder on their alone time. The silver tabby, however, seemed to take to his duties again as though nothing had just happened. "Are all the kittens here? Safe?"

"Well, the ones that aren't home," Bombalurina offered.

"Which are…?"

"Victoria and Jemima. The rest of the kittens are here and are going to stay with Jenny and Skimble for the night."

"Well, Munkustrap said, glancing towards Demeter, who was looking away. He lifted her chin with his paw so she would have to look up at him. "Victoria is safe as long as Mistoffelees is with her, as he _always_ is when she's not here, and if Jemima isn't here by the afternoon, she's not about to come here. Her owners don't let her out that late. _So_…" He gave a coy smile to Demeter. "What's the hurry?"

"I'm going to stand right here until you go," Bombalurina threatened.

"Then we'll move to a different den," Munkustrap countered.

"This is important! I can't believe I have to actually _tell_ you that!"

"And it can wait, with no danger tonight!"

"Do you really want to take that chance that _this_ be the one night Victoria sneaks off on her own without her big brother by her side? I mean, _do you really_? What kind of would-be leader would do such a thing? To his own tribe? To his family? Who count on you and expect you to put us first? I mean, if Old Deuteronomy died _right_ _now_ and you took over, would you say, 'Sorry, I want to be alone with my mate. The tribe will have to wait until I'm done getting lucky'? I expect this sort of thing from Tugger, but not from you, Munkustrap. Not from a caring, diligent individual such as yourse--"

"FINE!" he said finally, letting out a sigh. "I'll be right there, give me a few minutes."

Bombalurina laughed. "Only a few minutes? How disappointing that must be for Demeter."

Demeter let out a laugh, but at the look Munkustrap gave her, she cleared her throat and said with an indignant tone, "Bomba, that was uncalled for."

"And?" he asked.

"Very untrue."

"So there," Munkustrap said smugly, sticking his tongue out at the queen.

Bombalurina snorted. "My goodness, Tiger, you're such a nerd." Before he could counter, she sauntered off.

Demeter sighed and let herself fall against Munkustrap. He gladly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the top of her head. "I better go," he said.

"And after this, we're moving out of the junkyard, so we can have some time to ourselves," Demeter said resolutely.

He chuckled. "If that's what you want. Of course, that wouldn't be such a big problem if you would just move in with my humans. They're very nice to cats. Give you good meals…sometimes chicken scraps off the table. Yum, yum."

"How very convincing," Demeter giggled. "You keep saying that, and I keep saying no."

"And each time, your 'no's are a little less committal. I'm breaking you down, you know it."

"Yes, it's the chicken that's the clincher," Demeter mused. The tom squeezed her a little tighter, possibly as a punishment. "Well, I _suppose_ having you there is a good thing, too…"

"You _suppose_?" he asked. "When I get back, I'm going to have to do a lot more convincing, it seems." With that, he nuzzled her cheek, before getting up reluctantly. He still held her paw, gazing into her eyes. "Don't look at me like that," he whispered. "It makes it very hard to leave right now."

"Like what?" she asked playfully.

"Like you're completely and utterly, head over heels in love with me," he said melodramatically.

"Oh, you must be reading my eyes wrong," Demeter shrugged. "That couldn't possibly be what they're saying."

"Is that right?" Munkustrap asked. "Then what are they saying?"

At this point, Bombalurina filled the door frame again, rolling her eyes. "They're saying 'get your tail out there and do your job!' Everlasting Cat!"

Munkustrap frowned at Bombalurina, before turning to kiss Demeter on the lips. He then made his way out of the den, roughly brushing past Bombalurina on his way out.

Demeter bit her lip as she looked up at Bombalurina. The red queen put her paw to her forehead, as though checking her temperature. "I think that made me sick."

"Bomba," Demeter said, leaving it at that, and shaking her head.

---------

Dusk, and the sun had set, leaving the remnant straggling light to follow its source. Munkustrap got all the information he could about the harassment the others had been receiving, and went on his way to resolve the matter. He had assumed it was some alley cats, but there was something about this situation that had him feeling uneasy. It was probably best he did get it resolved right away, and he realized why Bombalurina was so steadfast in having him check it out _that_ night. It wasn't just harassment the kittens endured, as told by the scratches that riddled Etcetera's face. Someone was challenging the Jellicles.

Munkustrap trotted along the dark streets, finding nothing of interest on the routes the kittens took. Not even a Pollicle. There was a reason they had chosen those routes to go to the junkyard. They passed innocent landmarks, such a shopping districts or markets or parks, where mostly humans went and no animal threats were about.

But one park did call his attention. Munkustrap's fur went on end as he passed a route used by Etcetera that passed an open field the humans used for sports.

The tom looked about, slowly entering the park. He began to wish he had brought someone with him, but there weren't many cats in the junkyard that night, and he thought it pointless at the time to go out of his way to find any able bodied tom to go with him. Not to mention he felt better leaving them to guard the kittens at the yard.

It had rained recently, and the ground was still muddy. And freezing, for that matter. The only reason Munkustrap was able to tolerate the cold was through his thick coat, but his feet were beginning to feel frostbitten. That, along with the thought it would rain again soon, and the mud caking onto him, made him think that going home and waiting until morning was best. The mist from the grass was wetting through to his fur, either way, and putting him in a foul mood. Perhaps he would go home and try to clean off a bit before he let Demeter see him so messy.

The tom turned to go back, when he saw two red eyes staring at him. Munkustrap gasped as he recognized Macavity coming out from the shadows, a devilish smile on his lips.

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Bombalurina was sitting near the Rum Tum Tugger, who had happened to be passing that night when he heard what had happened to the kittens, particularly his best fan girl. A few of the cats had gotten together to tell stories, hoping to make the kittens feel better. Etcetera and Electra were already in higher spirits, being able to have the maned tom put his arms around them.

Demeter had joined them there, more listening to stories than telling them. (The kittens would be far more interested in any stories the Rum Tum Tugger had to tell rather than she.) He was just finishing up a story about how he found and adopted his human when Demeter shot up from her spot with a small gasp.

She looked around, her eyes wide, her ears perked up. After a moment, Bombalurina asked, "What is it?" Demeter realized that everyone was looking at her, nervous. She didn't mean to spoil the mood… "It's not that damn Macavity again, is it?"

"…I don't know," she admitted. "I thought I heard someone calling my name…"

"I didn't hear anything," Alonzo said, who was now standing up and ready for whatever came their way, as he was the protection of the group that night.

"Me neither," Pouncival said, who despite his devil-may-care attitude, was huddled up close to Jennyanydots.

"Hmm," Demeter said, trying to act like it was nothing. But the thought chilled her…because for the first time her intuition kicked in like that, she wasn't _frightened_. Which for some reason, made her more scared.

After a few moments of silence, Plato popped up and pointed his paw towards the entrance of the junkyard. "Look!" he said. Everyone looked over to see Munkustrap hobbling his way towards them, covered in mud.

"Munkustrap!" Jennyanydots said before anyone else could react. "What happened to you!?" She rushed over and started to fuss over him, but the tom pulled away, almost violently, which caused the queen to stop. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, looking at the queen with contempt.

Bombalurina got up and walked over, putting her paws on her hips. "You don't look fine, Tiger," she said. "And you sure as hell aren't _acting_ fine either."

He gave a softer expression to Bombalurina. "I'm fine. Just need to rest."

Demeter walked up to him, not sure what to make of his wounds. "You could let Jenny look at your leg, at least," she said with concern. "You were limping in." At that moment, the two made eye-contact, and Demeter stopped in her tracks.

Frozen for a moment, she couldn't place the unsettling feeling she was getting. That look he was giving her! It wasn't a bad look, just uncharacteristic for him…so intense, so passionate, so…she didn't even know how to describe. It was as though he saw her for the first time after years apart.

After a moment of silence, she broke her gaze, and tried not to look him directly into his eyes. "What is it?"

"Nothing…" he said. "I just…forgot how beautiful you are." Demeter felt her cheeks blush. It wasn't like him to give such public displays of affection. In fact, the rest of the tribe awed at the comment, causing him to look particularly annoyed rather than embarrassed.

"I'm going to bed," he announced to the others, walking up to Demeter and taking her paws. She felt a little awkward at the motion. "Care to join me?"

Demeter was silent for a moment. Finally, she nodded. "Sure…" And on the way back to their den, she couldn't help but keep a close eye on him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The golden queen stretched as she crawled out of her den. She had spent the night with Munkustrap, of course. And though certain aspects of it she wouldn't complain about, there was definitely something that wasn't right. He didn't usually act like _that_…or touch her _there_…and she wasn't sure if it was just her, or if he seemed a little selfish last night. It was all so familiar, but not _right_. However, being too shy to share said information with anyone, she was left to dwell on it herself.

And what's more, he was treating her differently. Not cruelly, no, but like she had never truly appreciated her. Like he always wanted her by his side. In fact, it took a lot to peel him away from her that morning and go and do his duties. She finally had to scold him about ignoring his duties just for her, and that it wasn't like him to do so. At the sound of that, he got up, gave her a look, and walked off in what seemed like a sulk.

Demeter wished that there was a queen she could sit down with and at least try and run around the idea that she didn't feel right, but she didn't have the best reputation in the tribe. So many times crying, "Macavity," made the others start to look at her as though she were insane. For the sake of her mate and the nerves of the others in the tribe, she kept her outbursts to a minimum, and eventually learned how to control her fear enough that she could slip away before she freak out in front of everyone. That way, if she were wrong, as she had been quite a few times (though felt certain at the time), no one would make a big deal about it. There were times she wished she had more control and hadn't crippled the other's belief in her intuition.

Someone tapped her on her shoulder, and the queen jumped a little before seeing Bombalurina's smiling face. "Sleep well last night?" she asked.

Demeter shrugged her shoulders. "I've had better nights."

"Well, I was thinking we could do the cat thing, and lay out in the sun while we have a chance." The red queen pointed up at the sky. "There's no telling how long those clouds will stay away."

"Great," Demeter said, smiling back to her friend. "And maybe we could talk…"

"About what?" the queen asked as she led the way to a prime sunning spot.

"Mmm…" Demeter couldn't bare the thought of how that conversation would go with Bombalurina, so redirected to, "I suppose…how things are going with you…"

-------

Hour two of lazing, and Demeter had all but forgotten about her worries that morning and was sprawled out, very un-queen-like, across the hood of a car parked near the junkyard. Bombalurina was looking around, making sure no humans snuck up on them. Or worse, pollicles.

"Oh, great," Bombalurina said with a sigh.

"What?" Demeter asked, flicking her tail, not wanting to open her eyes.

"Alonzo is coming up. He looks angry. Well, at least that means he won't be flirting with me." Bombalurina smiled coyly to her friend. "Unless I'm just _that_ irresistible."

Demeter smiled and looked up. Alonzo did, indeed, look perturbed about something. And the fact that he was coming right up to them didn't help. Had she done something bad? Demeter sat up as Alonzo hopped on the hood of the car. He then tried to muster a smile to the gold queen.

"Demeter," he said, almost sweetly.

"Yes…?"

"I have a question for you."

"Alright."

"Is Munkustrap a pure-bred?"

Demeter gave Bombalurina a questioning look, and upon receiving one in return, turned back to Alonzo. "I don't think so. Why."

"Because if he is, I think all that inbreeding finally got to his head!" Alonzo was yelling that last part at the queen. "He's completely ignoring his duties!"

"Oh, like you haven't done that in the past, Alonzo," Demeter went back to resting the way she was, and tried to close her eyes to the black and white tom. But he persisted.

"Not like this! Now, I know he came home grumpy last night, I assume he got into a fight…" He waited for Demeter to confirm this, but she hadn't bothered to ask Munkustrap what had happened. It didn't seem important at the time. So Alonzo continued, "but that doesn't give him a right to be talking to me as though I don't know what I'm doing. I was trained right along side him. If he's trying to say that I don't know what I'm doing, then _he_ doesn't know what _he's_ doing!" Alonzo stopped to catch his breath.

"Pop a blood vessel there, Alonzo?" Bombalurina asked.

"That doesn't sound right," Demeter said, frowning, her fears from the morning creeping up on her again. "Maybe I should talk to him. Something must be bothering him." Alonzo didn't seem convinced. "You're his friend, Alonzo, he wouldn't be mean to you for no reason."

"Is that going to make you happy, Spot?" Bombalurina asked.

"What did you call me?" Alonzo had always been very sensitive about the patch over his eye.

"Don't upset him more, Bomba," Demeter whispered. To Alonzo, she said, "I'm sorry you're upset, but I'll try and talk to him tonight, okay?"

"Whatever," Alonzo said.

"Good, now go," Bombalurina said, kicking Alonzo weakly with her foot, but he failed to budge. "I didn't get much sleep last night, and who knows how long the sun will be out for us to sun in!" The tom took the hint and left the two be.

-------

Night had brought on more rain clouds, and it looked like they would spend another night either tucked away in the safety of their homes or curled together in their dens. The cold hadn't been frightened away from the mid day sun, either, and Demeter wondered if she would freeze that night. The gold queen went to find Munkustrap before the rain drops would start hitting them. She was surprised, however, to see the silver tom seated and talking with Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer.

Demeter walked up gingerly to the three, and Munkustrap stopped talking when he saw her. For a moment, he seemed confused, then smiled. "Come back to me?" he asked coyly.

Demeter furrowed her brows at the tom, before looking over to the two twins, who looked almost confused, but at the same time invigorated, as they often do before they do something bad. "Hello," she said to them.

"Hey, Demeter," Rumpelteazer said. "We have to get going."

"Yeah…look at the moon!" Mungojerrie said. "Or…at least where it would be if it were a cloudless night…it's getting late!" With that, the two bounded off, talking excitedly to one another.

"What was that about?" Demeter asked Munkustrap.

"Just asked them to do me a favor," he said. "I don't…take advantage of their skills enough."

"Because you don't approve of their _skills_. You wouldn't even call them _skills_. And now you're asking them for favors?"

Munkustrap turned to the queen, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You can't be good all the time, Demeter. Sometimes you have to use what resources you have with you when you can." The gold queen must not have looked convinced, so Munkustrap continued. "It's nothing bad, I assure you."

"Are you okay, Munkustrap?" Demeter asked. "You seem different. Alonzo was very upset this morning over something you said to him, and now you're talking to Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer…and you're just acting odd."

"I've had a long night, Demeter," he said. "I'm not feeling too well, can't you accept that? And what does it matter what…Alonzo…said? I didn't treat him badly, just gave him a few lessons. If he can't take it, he shouldn't be a guardian."

Demeter felt scared for a moment. "You _need_ Alonzo to help you, Munkustrap."

"I don't need anyone's help to protect you," Munkustrap corrected. "And you are all I care about."

"…the tribe?"

"Is fine for now," was all he said, and Demeter got the feeling he wanted her to stop asking questions. She bowed her head, not liking this feeling of having to question the one tom she should trust the most. He lifted her chin up with his paw, and she looked up at him sheepishly. "Go to bed. I'll be there after I finish up here."

Demeter opened her mouth to protest, but bit it back. She nodded. On the way back to her den, she told herself over and over again, "He's not feeling well. This is just a phase. He'll be better tomorrow."

-------

Demeter lay in her little bed that she made out of an old, thrown out sofa cushion, and tried to go to sleep. But sleep refused to come, as the quiet night was interrupted with the fall of rain. She looked to the entrance of the den, admiring how black the night was, concealing everything on the outside, leaving her alone with her thoughts on the inside. The rain was almost comforting…it seemed it would wash away the trials of the day.

But a form was coming out of the dead of the night and coming towards the den. Demeter turned her face away from the entrance, scared to see what would come in. She heard a cat shaking itself off before entering the den. Every sinister drop of water that reluctantly dripped off the intruder's form clashed with the rhythm of the steady rainfall outside, disrupting her feeling of security.

Demeter turned to look at this assailant, before realizing it was Munkustrap. He was still dripping wet, but wasn't bothering to lick his coat clean as he admired Demeter lying there. He let out a soft sigh and sat down, contented.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing at all," he said, smiling to her. Demeter felt uneasy and pretended to have found a spot on her coat that needed grooming, and went to that. She was interrupted when the tom rubbed up against her affectionately. "Ugh, Munkustrap! You're all wet!"

"I don't mind."

"But I do!" she laughed uneasily and pulled away from him, now working furiously to get her coat less soggy. She heard him growl lowly in protest. "I'm sorry, Munkustrap, but you're usually not wet to the bone…or happy like that. How can you stand it? It's freezing!"

"I've been in worse," he said. Demeter gave him a questioning look. "Well, you don't know _everything_ about me." The queen was quiet. He sighed. "Grooming will take too long. I want you _now_."

"What?" He had never said _that_ before.

He leaned in close. "Kiss me," he said.

Demeter wanted so much to just be sweet to him again, play around with him again. If this was the way he was going to play around from now on, she wasn't sure how she would take it. But…he was leaning in close to her, and…she figured she might as well.

The gold queen leaned up to him until their lips met, and he instantly began to kiss her back passionately. No, no, no, this didn't feel right. She tried to avoid heaving a sigh as the tom wrapped his arms around her, and though she never had done so before, she opened her eyes while he was kissing her.

Then her eyes widened. There was something – a shadow – in the corner of the room. And its eyes stared angrily at them. Those eyes looked all too familiar. Demeter's stomach wrenched, and she pulled away from Munkustrap's grasp, staring into the corner.

The tabby looked confused, aggravated. "What's the matter?" he asked brusquely.

"I…" She looked at the tom. He wouldn't believe her. "I'm just…I need some water, that's all." She forced a smile. "I think I'm going to go out and get some."

Munkustrap shot up. "But you hate the rain," he said, taking her paw in a motion to pull her back. She pretended not to notice and pulled away.

"I can manage for one night. I'm soaked as it is because of you, anyway." He went to protest again, but Demeter slipped out of the den and made her way quickly under the protective rain.

Wrong. Everything was wrong, and she was sure of it now. The familiarity of that…for lack of a better word, _presence_…was too strong to ignore.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: -sigh- I'm behind on my updating schedule! Well, I really have a good excuse, so I'll forgive myself, heh. But I guess it's better for you all, because it means the next chapter would have to be uploaded fairly quickly, then the chapter after that. Really, this back up in uploading came at a beneficial time for the readers, haha! Anyways, if anything seemed unclear (and when I say that, I mean in the writing, not the storyline, because, yeah, their might be just a bit unclarity when you're done with this chapter) please tell me so, because I feel like my writing style has been degenerating lately! Anyways, please read and REVIEW, and enjoy the story! Oh, and try not to write too many spoilers in the reviews, please -innocent smile-_

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Chapter three

Two days had past, lost to the cold and the rain. Nothing seemed to be happening. And of the boredom, arose the only thing that the social Jellicles could to do in such a time – gossip. While there were a few topics of interest, like who was warming the Rum Tum Tugger's bed which night, or the newest crimes of Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, the most important to them was Munkustrap's state of mind.

"What is wrong with that cat?" Cassandra asked with a slight knowing smile to Bombalurina.

"Ah, he's just being moody," Bombalurina dismissed, looking cautiously up to the sky, wondering when it would open up again and pour down on them.

"What does he have to be moody about?" the other queen asked, laying on her side, her paws delicately crossed in front of her. "He has it good, as to my understanding."

"Does he really?" Bombalurina asked, her eyes sparkling with the chance to reveal her observations. "Sure, he wants you to think he has it good, but look at what he's been through! In the rain half the days, running between two homes, dealing with a mate like _that_, and supposed to keep an entire tribe safe? I would be a little moody, too!"

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "Alonzo protects the tribe as well. And so do many others. And he doesn't _have_ a home!"

"But he has you," Bombalurina said with a sweeping wave of her paw to indicate the sleek queen. "I'm sure you're easier on the nerves than--" Bombalurina stopped abruptly as she looked past Cassandra. The queen turned and saw a gold and black queen walking in the opposite direction. "Do you think she heard what I said?" Bombalurina gasped.

"No," Cassandra tried to say nonchalantly. But Bombalurina looked at the departing queen with concern, wondering if she should go after her or not.

--------

Demeter tapped a ball of black, white, and orange fur, then backed away. From the ball emerged two nearly identical cats, who had been sleeping curled against each other, one head to tail, the other tail to head. Both turned and regarded Demeter with some interest.

"Yes?" they both asked at the same time.

"You don't have to talk at the same time _all_ the time do you?" Demeter asked, her tail flicking in annoyance.

Coricopat looked to his sister, then said with a grin, "it seems the state of the silver one is contagious."

"Yes," Demeter said. "Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. The silver one. I mean, Munkustrap."

"What about him?" Tantomile asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well…as you've noticed, everyone is talking about him lately…"

"Not just him," Tantomile assuaged. "There is also question about the existence of the Rumpus Cat." To Coricopat, she said, "I think he's real."

"To a _kitten_, perhaps," Coricopat countered.

"Have you noticed anything weird about Munkustrap?" Demeter asked, hoping not to get off track. "Any vibes about him, or something. Or any…_other_ things in the junkyard?"

"_Other_ things?" Coricopat furrowed his brow.

"You know," Demeter bowed her head. "Like…a…" The two cats looked on. Couldn't they read minds, or something, so she wouldn't have to say it? When it was clear they wouldn't speak up for her, she sighed. "Like _shadows_."

"As in…demons?" Tantomile asked tentatively.

"Not so much a demon," Demeter said, feeling foolish as she explained it. "But…some sort of presence."

Coricopat smiled to her sister, before looking to other queen. "We don't deal in the afterlife, Demeter. Just magic and the lives that surround us."

Demeter frowned. "I see." Actually, she had no idea what they were good for. Sometimes she felt like her own instincts were better than the twins. She even took pride in their very own magical cat, Mistoffelees, telling her after the Jellicle ball that she should always trust her instincts, even if the others didn't believe her, as she proved herself to be right that night with Macavity.

Deciding she could find no answers there, she turned to leave. But before leaving, she had one more thing to ask the others. "Coricopat….Tantomile…you don't think I'm too much to deal with at times, do you?"

The twins exchanged looks, before turning back to the queen. "You've had a lot to deal with in life," Tantomile finished. "You have a different perception of things than the others in the tribe do."

Demeter took in the words, nodded, and walked off, muttering under her breath, "You could have just said, 'Yes'."

--------

The gold and black queen was trotting along at a hurried pace. A certain silver tom followed behind her. Close at her heels. Practically _riding_ on her heels. And it was getting to the point that she began to feel harassed.

It was hard to get out of Munkustrap's sight as of late. Demeter was beginning to feel like a queen in heat during mating season, with no end to the toms in pursuit. But it wasn't mating season, and there was only one tom to speak of. She was almost up to her ears in annoyance at his persistence.

Demeter stopped abruptly, spinning on her heels to speak to Munkustrap. She was surprised that he didn't crash into her, considering how close he was. "I'm just going to get something to eat." She took a subtle step back. "You really don't have to worry about me!"

"Is it so bad I want to make sure you're alright?" he asked. It had taken him a while to narrow down his reasons for following her to, 'I just want to protect you,' - an argument she could hardly protest. She personally thought he had some sort of separation anxiety. Like he thought she would just leave him for no reason, or die right there on the spot…

Demeter thought about that for a moment.

"Munkustrap…" The tom regarded her with an almost blasé expression. _Almost_. "Do you know something I don't?"

"I know a lot of things others don't," he mused, looking off to the side and smiling to whatever little joke he had just made for himself. "Why?"

"You just seem to be a little more…_needy_ lately." He didn't seem to like the accusation. "It's just…you're shunning your duties and following me around everywhere, and that's not typical. Is something wrong? Did someone say something to you?"

"I've missed you, that's all," he said. And so he had been saying for the past few days.

"Because…you know I'm alright, right?" she asked tentatively. "There has been nothing wrong with me. I feel fine. No threats from anyone."

"Someone's been threatening you?" he asked, mildly shocked.

"I mean," she said quickly, "You know, there haven't been any Macavity sightings or anything like that!" He didn't seem pleased with that answer, but left it at that. "I will be fine walking on my own. So…you can go about your duties."

"Alonzo can take care of it."

"Well, I don't dismiss Alonzo's skills in the least, but I've always felt much safer knowing you were guarding the yard, you know?" She leaned in a little, tilting her head to the side in a flirty fashion. "I've always liked powerful toms…and one who can protect their _family_. Not just their queens," she added as an after thought.

She could tell he was grateful for the attention, as he smiled as though he had won and wrapped his arms around her. "But," Demeter added, "As of late, I can't really get in the mood if I don't feel like my family…_our_ family…_the_ _tribe_," she corrected when he seemed confused, "…is being protected. And let's face it, Munku, but…you're the best."

She couldn't read the expression on his face, which put her ill at ease. But after a few moments of consideration, he finally let her go, and with a look of 'you win', went to perform his duties.

"Thank the Everlasting Cat," Demeter sighed to herself. Ah, now that she was free of her well-intended stalker for a moment, she had no idea what to do with herself. Staying in the junkyard was out of the question, lest she end up right back where she was before. Perhaps the best thing would be to leave the junkyard for the night, go for a walk, find a nice place to take shelter from the cold, then come back the next day and see how things were going.

Demeter trotted around the junkyard, asking any cat she could find where Alonzo was, all while keeping out of Munkustrap's way. When she finally stumbled across him, she gave him as friendly a smile as she could, seeing as he didn't seem too happy at the moment. "Are you okay?" she asked with genuine concern.

Alonzo sighed, sitting on his haunches. "It's nothing," he said somewhat curtly.

Demeter frowned. "Are you mad at me?" she asked.

"Well, let's see…I ask you to talk to Munkustrap, and now he's treating me like a kitten who doesn't know how to take care of himself."

"Really?" Demeter shrugged apologetically. Certainly he hadn't found Alonzo and made him feel inferior in the time she had left the silver tom to protect the tribe… "I don't know what that's about. I just reminded him not to take the other guardians for granted." Alonzo didn't seem convinced. "I really don't know why he's being that way, Alonzo. I can assure you, I never said anything bad about you! …How recently was this?"

"This morning. Why?"

"Then I can assure you I have _no_ idea what's gotten into him."

Alonzo sighed, not entirely convinced, but softening his expression for the queen. "Is there something you needed?"

"I…just wanted you to know that I'm going home for a while, and if Munkustrap asks, tell him that, please?"

The tom furrowed his brow. "Why do you need _me_ to tell him?" Demeter was at a loss for words, stammering as she tried to answer the tom. Alonzo lost all suspicion for the queen and smiled knowingly to her. "I guess I'm not the only one tired of him." The queen laughed nervously. "Don't worry, I'll tell him you're going _home_."

Demeter looked away from the tom. Was she really that transparent? Well, hopefully, Alonzo would be able to sell it more than she did, as she trotted away from him and out of the junkyard.

-----

The sun had been hiding all day, but at least it wasn't raining for the moment. The sky did, however, look ready to burst open at any moment. Demeter could care less, though. Her feet were already wet from so much water on the ground, and even if she did get wet, it would be a welcome shower to wash away the grimy feeling or uncertainty she had been surrounded by the past few days.

The queen realized she had been going down an unfamiliar route. She thought she had been down it once when she walked with the Rum Tum Tugger after walking Etcetera home. (He had proven himself to be her least favorite company, then.) But the only good part about that time alone with him was zoning out of their conversation long enough for her to admire the park she was passing by.

Which happened to be the park she was passing at the moment. But now the park seemed dead, and though spring was near, the leaves had yet the sprout again, and the mud that drowned out the grass hardly looked appealing. The gold queen sat on her haunches and looked at the park, feeling empathy for it, how cold and lonely it looked. Alone in her thoughts. Alone in her fears. Alone in the embrace of someone she was supposedly in love with…

Her thoughts were interrupted. Something moved.

Demeter turned to look where a shadow had passed by her peripheral vision, but couldn't see anything there. She was certain she had seen _something_. Something that entered the park. And despite all the mud and the water on the ground telling her not to, her intuition screamed at her to listen. To enter the park.

As Demeter walked into the park, she found herself drawn to a mud mound. She owed this up to her intuition – that must have been what led her to a place she had only been to once before. While she had been led astray by intuition before, _this_ felt _right_. This sensation of a knot in her stomach at seeing the mound of wet earth felt like what she should have been led to.

Something was in the mud…

She reached out her paw in order to start digging.

"Don't do it." Demeter gasped and whirled around to see who had snuck up on her. She saw Munkustrap sitting on a rock nearby, his head resting against his paw. His face was rather expressionless, but his eyes, _his eyes_, were incredibly intense.

"Munkustrap!" she cried. "You scared the hell out of me! I didn't hear your footsteps. I should have known you would follow me…" But it was a relief to see him there. Though he acted strange, she couldn't help but think, '_This_ is my Munkustrap.'

"Don't look there," he said evenly. "Please."

Demeter was confused. She turned to look at the mud. "What could possibly be so bad about--" When she turned back around, Munkustrap had disappeared. "M-Munku?" she looked around, but couldn't see anyone. "Munkustrap? This isn't funny!" She continued to look about. "Fine then…I'm just gunna go over here and dig in the mud you specifically told me not to!" She had hoped to flush him out with that, but no luck.

The queen made a big show of walking over to the mud. "I'm defying your orders!" she called out. "Doesn't that make you mad?" But he didn't come back out.

Demeter sighed, looking at the pile. _Trust her intuition_. What didn't he want her to find in here? Carefully, she began to push apart the freezing mud.

A little bit here, a little bit there. Her paws were muddy, and it seeped between her digits. She began to dig harder and faster, desperate, needing to know the truth, needing to know what had happened that night. She knew, somehow, she _knew_ this was about _that night_. When Munkustrap became different. When she stopped feeling safe. She had to know, as she began to wildly work at uncovering that _something_ in the mud.

Her paw hit that 'something'. Her heart stopped for a moment. Ideally, she would have found nothing, laughed to herself, found Munkustrap, and gone home. But she _did_ find something. Her instincts were right. The item half-buried in the ground was proof. She reached both her paws and struggled to get it to the surface, heaving and grunting, ignoring the feeling that her digits would fall off from the cold, until _finally_ the earth released its secrets with a soft _slurp_.

Demeter looked at the muddy object, bigger than she was, and narrowed her eyes in confusion. Something familiar…but what?

She brushed aside some of the mud and shrieked as she backed away. Fur! She had uncovered an animal – a cat? – and had been _touching_ it this entire time! Demeter turned to run, but stopped. No…she had to find out who this creature was, and understand why it was left there, buried in the mud.

Putting her fear and disgust aside, she held her breath as she pushed the mud aside. Something brought her here. Maybe it was a cat she knew…and with each brushing aside, the form became more clear. A whisker was unearthed. Black fur. Eyes that were still halfway open.

At this, Demeter backed away, taking a moment to breath. She tried to keep herself from throwing up. It seemed the green eyes were staring off into space.

Then a horrible feeling came over her.

She began to remove more mud, looking for a collar, hoping not to find—but she _did_ find one. She brushed away the mud. Black with silver studs. Then a familiar ring on his collar.

Demeter backed away quickly, feeling her stomach knot up into a tight ball. She covered her mouth in horror with her muddy paws. Her eyes were wide with shock, and she heard an unearthly shriek before she realized it was coming from her!

She had unearthed the body of Munkustrap.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Let me just say right now that I love Munkustrap, he's my favorite character. But like many authors, we love to torture the characters we love! This chapter is short, but I didn't think the next chapter combined well with it. I just wonder what mood I was in when I initially wrote this, heh...anyways, my cat is trying to get into everything he possibly can at the moment, so enjoy, and review! Thanks for all the reviews in the last chapter, by the way! Okay, let's get somber again for this chapter. ((Somber face)) _

* * *

Chapter four

Demeter couldn't stop screaming. Her shrieks parted the silence of the empty park as she stared down at the lifeless form. It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible. She had just seen him in the junkyard, and against a few moments ago! But…that was his collar. And…she didn't dare uncover the rest of the face. She didn't want to know. It was all an overreaction. Munkustrap was fine, and the world would make sense again. If she could _Just_. _Stop_. _Screaming_!

Demeter stumbled backwards. She tried to breath, tried to calm her nerves, her stomach. To stop shaking. To keep the scream from erupting from her mouth once again. But it dug deeply into her stomach until she had to turn away from the form, and threw up on the ground. When she finally was left to dry heaving, she took a few gasping breaths, not daring to look behind her anymore. Then she looked up to see a familiar form staring at her.

"I told you not to look there," Munkustrap said listlessly.

The queen thought she would faint.

After taking a few deep breaths, hoping not to heave again, scream again, or begin crying hysterically, she managed to calm her breathing enough to form words. She took a few moments, until she finally managed to say in a barely audible voice, "I don't understand…"

"I didn't want you to see me like that," he admitted, walking over to the dead body. Demeter watched, eyes wide, feeling like she was going crazy. Munkustrap stood next to his deceased self, bending down next to the dead body to examine it with some curiosity. He acted as though it were nothing more than a beetle crossing his path – interesting to look at, but nothing he hadn't seen before.

"That's not you," Demeter said, her voice quavering. "You're right here in front of me! I over…" She caught her breath. "I over-reacted. I do that, you know? Well…you know me…" her voice trailed off.

"I know you, Dem," he said, in a somewhat monotone voice, as he turned his intense eyes on her again. "I know you would know me anywhere. I know, deep down inside, you can guess what happened. Probably not now. It's a lot to take in. But I know you'll figure it out."

Demeter's eyes slowly went from the emotionless Munkustrap before her to the motionless one covered in mud, lying on the ground. "You're not dead!" Demeter said, tearing her eyes away from the dead cat. "Why are you acting like this? You've been so odd lately. Why are you acting differently than when I left the junkyard?"

Munkustrap slowly walked from the body to Demeter. Even though his markings curved his mouth into a smile, his lips failed to mimic the gesture. "You have to do me a favor," he said. "I want you to take me back to my human house."

Demeter blinked. "You can do that yourself," she said softly.

"I need a proper burial," he explained. "Otherwise, I'm stuck in this limbo."

"You are NOT DEAD!" Demeter cried, turning away from the dead body and the half-way animated Munkustrap. But she gasped in surprise that the silver tabby was right in front of her the moment she turned. She was about to check behind her to see if he was still there, or figure out how he moved that quickly, but stopped herself, not wanting to see that sight of a dead cat. "You…can't be dead," she said, her eyes wide.

He tilted his head to the side, and Demeter saw that as an invitation to see for herself. She reached out her black and golden paw, then pulled it back. She wasn't sure she really wanted to know. But as Munkustrap had said…she already knew. This would just confirm it.

Demeter closed her eyes to brace herself, thinking about how they first met, how dangerous their love affair was, and when they were finally free to be with each other. She thought of how she fell in love with his personality, his gentle and kind heart, his genuine smile. His eyes.

When she opened her eyes and looked into his, she began to sob. She reached out a paw to touch his chest, and felt…nothing. Her paw went straight through him.

The queen backed away, holding her head, as the tears began to poor down her cheeks, her sobs turning into mournful weeping.

How? How did this happen? How could this happen? And _why_ did this happen! To her? To the tribe? How could…

She collapsed to the ground, letting out a pitiful whimper. Her head was pounding, and she teetered to the side.

"Please don't faint," he said, with no pleading in his voice. Even his voice was lifeless! "It would just be more difficult for you when you wake up. It's hard enough for me to be talking to you as is…"

Demeter tried to hold back her sobs, and they sounded like grunts or gasps while she attempted to get a hold of herself. She looked up at the tom she loved so much through her tears, and noticed how he could almost communicate what he meant through his eyes. Her thoughts wandered for a moment back to that rainy night. "That…something…that was in our den. The shadow. That was _you_. You were there. You were…_angry_."

"I can only express extreme emotions," he said limply. "That's the only way you saw me at the junkyard. My spirit is trapped here, otherwise, unless I'm either sent to the Heaviside Layer or my human family buries me. You can see which would be easier to pull off."

Demeter shook her head. Her mind had gone numb trying to understand it all. She felt as naïve as a kitten. "How did you get there, then, if you're stuck here?" she asked meekly.

"I'm connected to you, I suppose," he said.

The queen let her head hang. She couldn't take in any more. She just wanted to curl up somewhere and sleep for the rest of eternity. Her body was exhausted.

"Demeter?" The queen refused to look up. "Demeter?" She sniffled before delicately lifting her head. "Do you understand what I need you to do?"

"Um…" She tried to grip the cold ground before realizing her digits had gone numb. "You want me to bring your human family here?" she asked timidly.

Munkustrap shook his head. Demeter gave him a questioning look before realizing what he meant. She looked down, her eyes widening at the thought. "I…I can't do it, Munkustrap," she whispered as her voice quavered. "I'm not that strong. I never was…"

"You're love for me was the strongest thing I've ever known," she heard his voice say. In that moment, he sounded like himself again. Demeter felt her stomach wrench at the sound, and she wanted to embrace him, take him home, and forget any of this happened. But when she looked up, he was gone.

His voice resounded in her ear, and she closed her eyes, hoping to hear him again. But all she heard was the coming rain hitting on the leaves of the shrubbery before she felt the drops themselves.

She melted to the ground and let herself weep as the rain soaked her fur.

After what seemed like an eternity, she knew it was time to pull herself together. There was a job she needed to do, and one that only she could do. So trying very hard not to think about it, she looked back to the dead form of the tom she had loved.

And with that, she began to drag his body back to his human's house.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I have to admit, there is probably gunna be a lot of typos in this. But due to certain circumstances, and wanting to keep with my updating schedule (lest the events of the next few weeks make me forget) I figured it was best to give it a once over instead of my usual at least twice over, and post. So forgive the typos and grammar errors, please, and I'll try and be better for the next one. That having been said, this is the last of the close together updates (was playing catch up) and back to just twice a week (yay!) So enjoy, and review!_

* * *

Chapter five

The gold and black queen felt like a phantom in the shadows as she watched the humans find their cat. She watched as they realized it was theirs. She saw them cry for him, mourn him, and eventually, lovingly bury their cat while hidden under black umbrellas. A few residual sobs escaped the queen every now and then as she watched them make his makeshift grave marker they put down for him. One by one, the humans went inside, the adult queen waiting for their youngest human kitten to come back in.

Curiosity took over as the queen found herself walking to the grave marker. The human kitten saw her, remembering Demeter from one of her shy visits to Munkustrap's home while looking for him. He bent down and petted her on the head, greeting her with sniffles, and muttering something in English that she barely understood as sympathy for her. Finally, he ran back to his mother, leaving her alone with the grave.

The large stone they had used for the marker had a few things written on it in what looked like chalk, (though, it probably wasn't, as the rain failed to wash it away.) Demeter had never been too good at reading human language, but Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, who spent a lot of time in the human world, had taught her a few things. It was enough to read that they had written Munkustrap's "name", his birth date, his death date, and a loving message on the bottom.

She sat before the grave, examining it for errors, and found that she didn't know a lot about her mate by the few items on the grave. For one thing, it seemed he was five years old. She knew he was older than her, but she guessed four. It seemed the humans knew his exact date of birth. Munkustrap had told her that he was adopted directly from his mother's owner, so that shouldn't have been such a surprise. She wished she had known, however. She could have done something special for him that day. According to what she understood of the human calendar, it was only two full moons prior.

She tried to smooth down the grave sight for no particular reason, patting down the mud to try and make it more aesthetically pleasing. Her mind wandered to how Bombalurina always called him "Tiger" all the time. It wasn't the name his humans gave him, but beneath his name was the message, "Our precious little tiger, may you rest in peace." But she never thought of him like any stuffy old tiger.

"You're going to catch a cold like that," said a voice. Demeter looked up at Munkustrap's ghostly form standing there. She jumped up, ready to race up to him. "Don't." And she stopped, chocking back that elation she had felt that moment.

"I…I'm so sorry, Munkustrap," she chocked out.

"It's not your fault," he said. His face still seemed emotionless, but a little less than before. But just seeing his face felt like she was being ripped open.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," she admitted. "I'm lost without you."

"You'll be alright."

Demeter wished he had the ability to say it with more reassurance. She took in a shaky breath. "How…how did this happen?"

"I was waiting for you to ask me that," he said, motioning for her to take a seat. "And no, it wasn't curiosity."

"Don't try and be funny," she said, holding back tears. It sounded too odd with barely a hint of musing in his voice.

Rather than apologize or segue into it, he just began to explain. "Macavity was waiting for me at the park. He ambushed me, caught me off guard. He had some alley cats attacking the kittens as a set up to lure me out. He had the upper paw…he's stronger than me, after all, and beat me up pretty good before I even had a chance to fight back. I only managed to scratch his leg before he shoved me to the ground and held me under the mud. I couldn't get a grip to pull myself out, and I drowned, essentially."

Demeter instinctively put her paws over her ears, squeaking as she tried not to scream out in frustration and terror. "Drowned?!" she shrieked. "He _killed_ you?! He _killed_ you! He killed you because of me! And now he's used his magic to take your place!" It was all making sense now. The way he had managed to morph himself into an image of Old Deuteronomy that fooled even Munkustrap during the Jellicle Ball. Then she had called him out, but he must have gotten more skilled at it as time had passed. "He killed you because of me! And I let him _touch_ me!" She felt disgusted, like she needed to dunk herself in soapy water again and again and again.

"Demeter…"

"No! I let him into our den! _We_ let him into our _tribe_! And now he's there right now, supposedly protecting us, making people angry at you – _at you_! My precious Munkustrap…my sweet, loving Munkustrap…he…he…" at this, she fell to the ground again, sobbing, not wanting to get back up, to hide in the darkness she had created of her arms wrapped around her head.

"I wish I could comfort you," he said, and it sounded as though he were broken up over it as well. Of course, he always hated to see her cry. The fact that he couldn't do anything about it now must have been eating away at him. She tried to stop crying for his sake, but the tears wouldn't stop. "Please…let it out now…that's all you can do. Cry until you can't find it in your heart to cry anymore. Because you have to go back there."

Demeter gasped, wrenching up from her position to look at the tom, as the tears still flowed from her eyes. "WHAT?!"

"Now that it's just you right here, you--"

"You're here with me!" she snapped, though not meaning to sound so harsh.

"Right, you're not alone," he said quickly. "I will be here with you. But while no other cats are around, you need to get out as much grief as you can. Because you have to stop him from hurting the others."

A few sobs escaped her mouth as she looked questioningly at the tom. "I can't do your job, Munkustrap. I can't stop him from doing anything. I couldn't stop him when he and I were _together_! He would never listen to anything I had to say that didn't have anything to do with him and me. And to go back there and face him, as though nothing were wrong…as though he weren't impersonating the tom I love…! How can you ask me to do that?"

"You have to, Demeter."

"_Have_ to? I don't _have_ to do anything!"

"You're the only one who knows."

"And if I fail at protecting them?"

"Demeter, you must remember, there is only so much you can do, and you know the best way to go about it. If anyone became victim to Macavity again, that is no one's fault but Macavity's, and he will find his retribution for all the grief he had caused.."

Demeter looked lovingly to Munkustrap for a moment. It was so easy for her to just close her eyes and believe that he was alive again. The way he spoke to her, if she could just ignore the stiffness of his words, he could be alive again, nuzzling up against her, whispering in her ear, desperate to comfort her, one moment away from a gentle embrace. She reached out to touch his cheek…and again touched nothing. She held back a whimper…she should have known better. Her paw fell to her side, as she looked up to him again. "Why did you have to die because of me?"

"No," he said evenly. "I took you away from him. Or, as he put it, turned you against him. He blamed me. He wanted you back and me out of the picture. His choices are what led us here - not yours, not mine."

Demeter hung her head. She didn't believe it – she knew it was her fault no matter how he put it. But she was grateful for him for trying. She lifted her head again to say something, anything, to keep her there longer, but found that Munkustrap was gone.

She looked back and forth. "Munkustrap?!" But there was no answer. Her jaw clenched at the thought of being alone. No one would believe her. She had to act normal if she wanted to reveal Macavity for who he was, or until she found someone who might believe her.

She took a while, pacing around the yard of her mate's former home, looking to the grave marker, trying to make herself cry. As long as she could cry, she could be excused from going back. But she was unable to cry. Maybe she had regained some semblance of sanity in the time she spent there. And there was no longer an excuse for her to stay.

So she began to make the long journey back to her home. To deal with a murderer as though she loved him. To keep a secret that was already destroying her insides. To a place where she had no idea what would become of her. Where her love no longer waited for her. But she supposed that was her punishment for the shadows of her past sweeping up her only love and swallowing him whole.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: My cat, Valentine, went to the vet recently. He's a little overweight, so I was told to cut back on his food, so I did. Now he gets less, and begs everyone for food. And considering that he has huge Puss-in-Boots eyes, he usually gets food from those weakened by his cuteness. It's too bad he can't do the ear thing, too, or he would be rolling in food. But don't tell him that…._

_Why am I telling you this, you ask? Well, I'm slightly insane at the moment. Yeah. Internship and what not. Three days straight of escaped birds, baby bird feedings, insane hawks, tiny wittle screech owls, in itty bitty living space, all while life is going on, with it's people leaving, family feuding, friend meeting, and Mr. Sparkle (from the Simpson's) shaped cakes…you might go a little insane too. Also, I didn't update when I meant to, because I'm being so nitpicky about style, and watch, it will be full of typos…Anyways, on to the story! And sorry for wasting your time with this rant. You may skip ahead to the story now…don't you love how I tell you when it's too late?_

* * *

Chapter six

"I'm not alone; he's here with me. I'm not alone; he's here with me. I'm not alone, he's here with me…"

Demeter repeated those words in her head over and over again as she walked back to the junkyard. Each step seemed to cause her stomach to knot up even more, as she neared the place where she would have to see _that__tom_. The tom that wasn't hers.

The feeling utterly terrified her. Looking up into that doppelganger's face and trying to act normal with him… Everything would be fine if she didn't have to face the cat who _murdered_ her mate. If she didn't have to carry her mate's dead body. If she hadn't watched his funeral. If she hadn't…

No…she would start crying again if she thought of that. She had a mission to do – protect her tribes mate from this monster. And to do that, she needed the fake Munkustrap to think she was on his side. After all, he was after _her_. As long as he thought he had her fooled, she could keep the others safe, right? But how long could she keep that up?

She stopped cold when she saw the entrance to the yard. It seemed so big, all of a sudden. Or had she gotten smaller?

A few cats were wandering about, some looking curiously at her. For a moment, Demeter thought they could hear the thoughts that screamed so loudly in her head.

Something moved on her left. Demeter jumped, her tail going bushy as she eyed the intruder on her thoughts. And to her relief, it was simply the young queen, Victoria. Demeter thought she would sob in relief.

Victoria took in Demeter, shocked. "Demeter?" she asked, examining the queen a little closer. "What happened to you!? You look awful…"

"Um," she said, looking down at herself. Oh, right…the mud. "Pollicle," was all she could think to say.

Another cat came up behind the white queen. Mistoffelees seemed equally surprised at the queen's appearance. But Demeter felt a small twinge of hope at seeing the magical cat – she could trust him! "You look scared out of your wits," he said. To Victoria, he said softly, "Something up with the mud lately, huh? Everyone who gets covered in it comes home strangely."

"So you admit it," Demeter said, lunging forward, hungry for the magician to tell everyone that something was amiss in the junkyard. "Munkustrap had been acting strangely lately, right?"

Mistoffelees backed up a little. "Anyone can see that," he said. Demeter realized how intensely she must have been acting, and looked away, reducing to the size of a kitten. But this must have made Mistoffelees feel bad, as he leaned forward, with a softer tone to his voice. "I know you're on edge lately. And I would be, too. But you need some rest, Demeter."

"…on edge?" she asked, hoping he would elaborate the point. He _knew_, he _had_ to know! He would be able to tell a magical phenomenon from _anywhere_!

"If my mate hadn't been feeling well and been sniping at everyone," he said. He turned to Victoria with a hopeful look on his face. "If I had a mate, that is."

"Not this again," Victoria said, rolling her eyes and smiling kindly.

"Well, would it hurt to put in a few good words to your friends?" he asked, as Victoria turned to walk off.

"Do it yourself!" she called over her shoulder.

Mistoffelees sunk down low, his ears back, muttering something about being shy, before following after the white queen.

Demeter waited until he was out of range before breathing in deep and trying to sigh out the ball of tension that had formed in her chest. How could they act so _normal_ when Munkustrap was _dead_?! She felt like the world should have stopped, even just a little bit, to share this pain with her.

"I can't do this," Demeter said to herself, before turning to walk off.

"Demeter!"

She sighed, turning to see Alonzo trotting up after her, in a bad mood. "Where have you—what happened to you?!" His annoyance turned to shock at her mud covered body. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm not," she said softly.

Alonzo sat on his haunches. "Did something happen? Do you want me to get Munkustra--"

"NO! I mean…I…don't want him to see me like this," she said. Which was true. She couldn't figure out how to explain it to him. Somehow she thought he would know where she had been, and who knows what he would have done then. "Can you help me get cleaned off? I've never been this muddy before."

Alonzo looked over his shoulder, shrinking down with the awkwardness of the question. "I don't know if…that's very appropriate, Demeter."

"Please," she said pleadingly. "I need you to be family right now…" Alonzo's expression softened and he nodded at her to follow him. They walked to a nearby fountain, and Demeter slowly started washing the mud off.

"W…what happened?" he offered, genuinely concerned. She didn't often talk to him as more than an acquaintance, and he had helped her out a time or two, but that was the extent of their usual exchanges. Her asking him for help was odd, to say the least.

"I just found out someone I loved died," she admitted, tearing up, trying to choke back tears.

"Oh…I'm so sorry, Demeter," he said. There was a moment of silence as she continued to get the mud off her paws, her chest - any part of her fur affected by it. "Wh-why are you telling me this? You have closer friends…not that I don't appreciate you coming to me, but…"

"Because I can't tell anyone else, Alonzo," she said, looking at him, pleading, hoping, desperate for him to keep it a secret. "And I can't tell you why, but please, please don't tell Ma…Mun…Munkustrap," she said, trying not to wince at the name now that it's living component was being called by it. "Or Bombalurina, or anyone else. It will make sense eventually, I promise you, but…no matter what happens, you can't tell anyone."

"I promise I won't."

"And--" She wanted so much to tell him to protect them, the tribe. But she couldn't. He didn't know what the danger was.

"And?"

She bowed her head in defeat. "…thank you."

-----

Demeter slowly walked back to the junkyard. She had asked Alonzo to go on ahead, as she didn't need any rumors about them flying around. She could just imagine what _he_ would do to them if he thought something was going on between them. She trudged into the junkyard, very cold and wet but much cleaner than before, and she hoped to find Bombalurina and just bury her face in her fur and try to forget everything.

"There you are." Every muscle in Demeter's body stiffened. She thought her heart would stay contracted until she herself died. "I've been wondering where you were. I was going to go out and look for you."

The pit in her stomach refused to go away. Demeter swallowed hard, fighting the urge to throw up. Then, with a forced grin, she made herself face the inevitable.

There he was. A silver and black tom who had the audacity to think he could be the kind loving cat that Munkustrap was. She thought there was a boiling in her stomach upon seeing him, and she hoped it didn't flash on her face, not even for a moment. But she couldn't stop her eyes from expressing the fear she felt inside.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head.

"Well, then…where were you all day yesterday?"

Demeter shrugged her shoulders.

"How do you not know where you were?"

She again shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you're going to have to help me here, because I was worried about you."

Demeter opened her mouth, praying to the Everlasting Cat a scream wouldn't come out. "I was out," she said simply.

"Out? Not at your human's house?"

Had she said that? How long ago was that? How much time had _really_ passed since before she knew the truth? "Out can mean other places other than the junkyard," she said. In her head, she screamed, _Too snipey! Too mean! He would be angry for sure…_

He gave her a look, a look that he didn't like how she answered, not one bit, but he clenched his jaw and seemed to brush the matter to the side with that. "Are you wet?" he asked, looking at her fur curiously.

"It's been raining," she countered. _No, don't be so stand offish! Keep a cool head! Don't answer as though you're pointing at him and yelling "murderer!"_

It was difficult to remember to breath, and each inhalation came adorned with a shudder. He looked her over with those green eyes that he stole from her love. He was a smart cat. He was always a smart cat. Whatever he knew now, he would find some way to twist this to his advantage. He always did.

The tom walked up to Demeter, almost casually, with a smile on his face that seemed to challenge her. He lifted her chin with his paw, and looked her straight in the eye. "Are you upset with me?" he asked coyly.

Demeter wanted to push him away, spit at him, scratch his eyes out. "No," she said softly.

"Then what is it?" He gave a fake pout with the mouth he stole, keeping the ever present grin the tabby markings made. "Are you upset about something and taking it out on me?"

"I could never take my anger out on you, _Munkustrap_," she said. She found herself returning a fake smile.

That seemed to phase him, as his ears twitched in the slightest, the ever _slightest_, but she noticed. She was watching his every move. He was getting an idea in his head. She could see his eyes thinking it over, then the corners of his eyes turning up in delight.

"I've missed you, you know," he said softly, in a voice that made her feel disgust. "You know what would make me feel better about that?" He came in close, bringing his lips to hers, and Demeter felt her heart racing as she fought with the impulsive rising of her fur. She stopped breathing for a moment, feeling faint. Closing her eyes, she told herself that technically, _technically_, this was Munkustrap. Not _her_ Munkustrap, but…no, no, it wouldn't work, and –

His lips touched hers. And he was ravaging her lips, pulling her closer, tighter against him, refusing to let her go. She tried to get lost in the feeling, hoping it would be over soon, that he would let go, that she would be freed, but he refused to yield. She wanted to back away, push him away, but she was frightened of the consequences. No where to go.

A pile of junk crashed nearby, and Demeter felt a presence nearby, closer, closer, and suddenly, she felt it surrounding her. Suddenly, all she knew was pure loathing for the creature that was touching her, as the feeling scorched her stomach, rising within her like an unquenchable fire. Before she could begin to comprehend what was happening, she shoved Macavity away with all her might and screamed, "_I_ _hate you, you fucking bastard_!"

But it wasn't Macavity she was staring at. He still _looked_ like Munkustrap. A _hurt_ Munkustrap, even.

The feeling that had entered her quickly dissipated, and she felt alone and abandoned. It wasn't like her to speak like that, and now she felt naked and used in every form of the word.

The tom before her let his paws drop to his side, looking upset, dejected. "I…don't know what I did."

Demeter's lip quivered, as she tried to steady her erratic emotions bouncing around inside of her. Other cats had come to see the commotion, what had happened. Demeter felt very lost. They would believe whatever _he_ said. _Anything_ he said.

Skimbleshanks came over to the pile of junk that had fallen over. "What happened here?" he asked. It was a rather sturdy pile to begin with.

"He--" Demeter began to say, pointing at the silver tom, but couldn't get the words out. _How_ would she get the words out? How would she not sound insane?

"Demeter," the silver tom said, almost in a scolding fashion. "You should calm down."

"Don't _tell_ me to calm down!" she said, hissing at him. Then she saw everyone looking at her. They were probably thinking, 'there she goes again!' It seemed everyone was against her. Demeter shook her head, turned, and raced out of the junkyard, out into the neighborhood. Everything was a blur until she found a tree to collapse against. She didn't realize it before how _tired_ she was.

She gasped for breath until she was sobbing. Strange, she thought there wouldn't be any tears left, but they were there, pouring down her scrunched up face. She began to slide down the trunk of the tree, and felt as though she continued to fall, even when her body hit the ground. She curled up into a fetal position, burying her face in her knees and covering it with her arms until everything was rapturously dark, encompassing her, protecting her from reality.

"Munkustrap?" she said meekly to the darkness. She thought she felt him, the real him, the one she was in love with. "Munkustrap? Are you there?"

No answer.

"Please talk to me!" she whispered, closing her eyes tight, hoping he would come in some image, at least. "Munkustrap? Answer me! Don't ever give me that feeling again! It was a horrible feeling!" She let out a small sob at the memory of the hatred that still resonated inside; a hatred so strong, there was no way it could possibly exist in a tiny cat like her. After all she had been through, the thought of him using her to vent his anger. Everything was so confusing, so insane, so -- "Munkustrap? Where are you? Are you there?"

"I'm here." Demeter shot up from her fetal position to see a corporal version of the silver tabby before. The wrong version. He looked concerned, yes. He probably loved her, yes. But it was all wrong. All so wrong.

"No…" she whimpered. As she backed away, she kept saying, "No, no, no, no…"

"Demeter, I'm right here," he said softly. "Forget everything you think you know about me, I'm right here for you. I only want what's best for you."

"No, no, no…"

"Please come back to me, Demeter," he said in a pleading voice he had never heard from any tom before. The tom stepped forward precariously. "Everything will be okay. Just close your eyes and give in. _This_ is reality. I never meant to hurt you, and I'd never lay a paw on you. You know that. I promise, I'll do anything to make you happy. You and I, together." He managed to get close enough to her, kneeling down on one knee, and his expression changed slightly to show that he wanted her to take his next few words most seriously. "But you have to trust me. Come to me, Demeter."

"Munkustrap?" she looked back and forth, backing against the tree so hard the only thing left to do was merge with it. Where _was_ he? The "real" Munkustrap?

"Come on," he said, beckoning her closer. Demeter looked up to him. What was going on? Was she just overreacting? "Come to me, sweet."

"Don't call me that," she hissed, tensing up so suddenly, the back of her head hit the bark of the tree. Munkustrap only ever used her name.

He seemed to realize his mistake, and simply nodded and said, "Okay."

"Demeter," he said again, "I'm not going to hurt you. Remember how you once loved me? Can't you do that again? I'm right here…I thought this was what you wanted, right? To be with me?" He motioned towards his body. Demeter furrowed her brow. It was as though he were speaking gibberish. Who was he? Was anything in these past few days real? "I'm right here for you. We can be happy again. Just…_trust me_."

Had she completely lost grip with reality?

One last try. "Munkustrap?" she asked, looking around again. "Please…answer me…"

"I'm here, Demeter," he said, beckoning her closer. "I love you."

Demeter wrung her paws, looking at the tom before her. Maybe she _was_ crazy. Maybe everything was some strange dream or a hallucination? She didn't understand _herself_ anymore. Didn't understand anything anymore. And upon seeing his outstretched paw, she looked up at the face that she had no choice but to trust.

She took his paw.

And he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"We can be happy together," he whispered resolutely in her ear. "You wait. Just you wait."

-------

Jennyanydots covered Demeter with a blanket. The small gold and black queen had completely collapsed by the time she had returned to the junkyard. The Gumbie Cat did her best to look Demeter over without getting in between Munkustrap and the queen. He seemed very protective of her at the time. The worry, concern, and intense thought were written in the lines on his face, and every time the older queen interrupted said thoughts, she didn't like the look she received. Finally, Jennyanydots had had enough.

"Munkustrap," she said as sternly as she could. "She needs her rest, and you standing over her isn't helping."

He gave her a deathly look, but the older queen held her breath and stood her ground. Finally, the tom cat got up and trudged out the door. The queen sighed at her success before looking at the younger queen lovingly. "Poor dear, always so confused." Jennyanydots stroked Demeter's cheek, before going to close the den for the queen.

Demeter shivered in her sleep.

The den seemed to grow warmer as a shadow entered the room. It stood over her, and with the queen near, slowly began to take shape into a silver tom, looking down at the queen as she slept. His ghostly form knelt down and lightly stroked her cheek, and received a purr in response. Demeter eyes fluttered, but failed to open. "I love you," he said to her.

Leaving the queen with a gentle warmth to ease her through the night.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: I seem to keep making people cry - I didn't realize this story was so angsty!! I feel like such a drama queen. Sorry, heh. This update is one day late, too, but there was internet problems, and when those were fixed, I just couldn't get the chapter right! I had to let it go and move on. After all, only three more chapters after this one, if I got all the bugs out and timed it correctly. Anyways, to all my constant reviewers, thank you so much! It keeps me going. And to those who read and don't review ((stares ominously)) You thought Macavity was scary? Try upsetting a Tiger! ((smiles)) I kid, really. But reviews are always appreciated! ...You know, my friend once told me of some authors who hold their story hostage until their chapter receives a certain amount of reviews...aren't you glad I'm not that kind of author? ((smirk))_

_By the by, originally, the cats in the beginning of this chapter were playing Cats Cradle, but I didn't know if it was known well enough, and it was restricting the story flow, so I had to cut it out. Still, I want to see Cats playing Cats Cradle...I wish I was a better artist, that would make a cute picture. Blah, I talk alot...Enjoy the chapter!  
_

* * *

Chapter seven

Gossip flooded the junkyard. Everyone wanted to know what was wrong with Munkustrap and Demeter - two cats who should have been head over heels in love. And for the real story behind what was happening, a true Jellicle cat knew exactly who to go to for the straight information.

"What makes you think _I_ know?" the Rum Tum Tugger asked, giving the magical Mr. Mistoffelees a questioning look.

The black and white tom was sitting alongside Alonzo, as they took advantage of the break in the rain. The magical cat was trying to make different insects with his magic, from froghoppers to singing cicadas to dragonflies. But he seemed to be failing miserably. "Well," began the magical cat, "I just figured that you talk to Bombalurina a lot, and she's Demeter's best friend…"

"He's got a point," Alonzo said.

"All I know is," began Tugger, "Demeter has been acting weird since Munkustrap has been acting weird, and as far as anyone can tell, _she's_ probably the reason why! One too many hits on the head from Macavity, if you ask me."

"I don't think Macavity ever _hit_ her," Alonzo corrected.

"Just frightened the wits out of her," Mistoffelees finished, frowning at the thought.

"She won't even talk to Bombalurina about it," Tugger said, taking a seat nearby. "She's always been a little off. What should it matter?"

"You know," Alonzo frowned, looking over to Tugger. "You shouldn't go judging her so quickly. You don't know what she's going through. She's been through a lot."

"Like being covered in mud?" Mistoffelees said in almost a musing fashion.

Alonzo's eyes went wide. "You know about that?"

"Viccie and I saw her the other day."

"You don't know what that's about. Don't spread that around, Misto," Alonzo said warningly.

"What's this about mud?" the Rum Tum Tugger asked, curiosity never failing him.

"She was covered in mud yesterday," Mistoffelees said, trying to make a praying mantis with his magic, but only managing an amoeba-looking blob. "My magic has been so congested, lately." He shook his paw, and made one final effort to make a mantis, which appeared and lasted for several seconds before his magic dissipated.

"Congested?" Tugger asked. "Like you have a cold?"

"If there's too much magic in the air, it…uh…" He had tried to say it dismissively, but he couldn't seem to find a quick explanation for it. "Think of it like the weather. If there is too much water in the air, it's humid, and it's very uncomfortable. It's a little like that…magic gets more difficult when there's too much of it floating around. It's a little weird, I have to admit. It's been going on for days, and I have no idea who would be using so much magic so close together. The twins deny even feeling it. Maybe it's just me, but someone is putting a lot of effort into _some_ spell. You would think they'd get tired."

Alonzo scoffed. "You think _you_ would be the one who was grumpy, then."

"What do you mean?"

"Who else?" Alonzo asked, shrugging. "Munkustrap."

"Oh, right," Mistoffelees said. He turned to Tugger. "So Bombalurina hasn't told you anyth--" The tom's face flickered with realization.

"Whoa," Tugger said, looking to Alonzo in amusement. "Whatever that thought was, it hit him hard. You okay there?" The maned tom ruffled Mistoffelees' head fur, causing him to frown and pull away.

"I have to go," Mistoffelees said, bounding off without even saying goodbye to his two closest friends.

The Rum Tum Tugger and Alonzo gave each other questioning looks, before deciding not to press the subject. Instead, the maned tom leaned in close to Alonzo. "Now…what's this about mud?"

-------

Bombalurina was walking with Demeter, who had a distant look on her face. The red queen was trying to speak animatedly, probably hoping to get Demeter out of her thoughts, but the gold and black simply nodded every once in a while, clutching onto Bombalurina's arm. They both looked a mess.

Mistoffelees took in a deep breath before slowly walking up to the queen. Bombalurina stopped talking abruptly when she saw the magical cat walk up. "Demeter," he said, cocking his head to the side and giving a gentle smile to the gold queen.

Demeter looked to Mistoffelees, first shocked, then what seemed like she was angry with him. She didn't bother to hide that she didn't want to speak with him. The tom furrowed his brows. He had no idea why she would be upset with him.

"Demeter is not feeling well right now," Bombalurina said, looking stressed from the job of taking care of the queen.

"I only want to ask her something," Mistoffelees said.

"No," the red queen said forcefully. "No, that's not going to happen."

Mistoffelees hardly wanted to face down a queen as formidable as Bombalurina, and began to back away. "Sorry," he said, glancing at the gold and black queen before turning away.

It was strange…Demeter didn't seem terrified as she had in times past when she had something happen to her. Instead, now, she looked…defeated.

Mistoffelees bumped into something hard, before taking a few steps back. The first thing he noticed was there was blood on the white part of his coat. His eyes widened in fright, thinking he might have hurt himself before looking up to what he had hit.

Munkustrap stood there, his piercing green eyes cutting right through the small tom. Mistoffelees suddenly felt very intimidated. The dying finch in the bigger tom's mouth dripped with blood, a few feathers falling from its tiny form and landing before the feet of the silver tom.

"…are you going to kill that?" Mistoffelees asked dumbly. Munkustrap's ears perked up a little in response, as he raised his eyebrows, as though to say, '_Why should I_?' "If you plan on eating it, I mean…it seems to be suffering."

The silver tom slowly brought his paws to his prey, taking its head, and with a sudden snap, the bird stopped moving. Mistoffelees winced at the sound. Sure, he had hunted birds before, but it wasn't Jellicle nature to cause them to suffer needlessly, or be so heartless about the exchange of one life for another.

Munkustrap dropped the dead sparrow from its mouth, licking his blood drenched lips. "Happy?"

By now, Mistoffelees was desperate to change the subject. "I-i-is that your dinner?"

"No, it's for Demeter," he said, bending down and picking up the bird, throwing it over his shoulder, and then staring the tom cat down again. "Is that a problem?"

Mistoffelees felt his tail lashing behind him, and realized how defensive he felt. He almost thought the tom would attack him just for getting in his way. And Munkustrap didn't even apologize or show concern for him when he crashed into him! "I…" Mistoffelees said, trying to think on his feet. "I didn't think Demeter liked eating birds."

Munkustrap looked off for a moment, before looking back to the black and white tom. "You don't know her like I do," he said stiffly. Mistoffelees got the sense that the silver tom was surprised by that information.

"You…must be right. I should get going…" He tip toed around the silver tom, who steadily kept his gaze on him.

After he was out of Munkustrap's sight, he felt as though he were still being watched – a horrible feeling for a cat of many secrets. Including the one he thought he was carrying now.

If he was right about his theory, then everyone had been wrong about Demeter. And her instincts could be stronger than that of the magicians in the tribe…

------

Mistoffelees watched Demeter in the distance -her lifelessness, her disgust towards any movements her mate made towards her. The fact that he didn't seem to notice, or if he did, did not seem to care. What was she hiding in that little head of hers that she wouldn't tell anyone else? That she _couldn't_ tell anyone else?

The tom went off to think by himself for a while. The mud…the strange behavior of both Munkustrap and Demeter…He had heard that the night Munkustrap came back with such erratic behavior was when Etcetera was attacked. Everyone had been complaining about him as of late. And now poor Demeter was acting oddly, too.

Could it be possible that Macavity was somehow controlling Munkustrap?

That would explain the thick magic congesting the air. But if that were true, even Macavity wouldn't be able to hold out his magic for so long. Sooner or later, he would have to regenerate his magic, or else face a weakened body. But who knew what he could do to the tribe with their primary protector acting with Macavity's intentions at paw.

And Demeter? Maybe she found out somehow, by going to investigate. Maybe he put some spell on her as well. It wouldn't be difficult to turn her mind – she had had so much happen in her short life so far, confusing her wouldn't be incredibly difficult.

Mistoffelees went to find his sister. Victoria was in the junkyard with her friends, waiting for night to come so they could hunt moths. He raced up to her, nuzzling her upon seeing her, causing her to start.

"Mistoffelees," she said softly, surprised to see him while she was with her friends. "What are you doing here?"

"I have something to tell you," he said urgently, his eyes glancing over to Jemima, Etcetera, and Electra, who he bowed his head, more in embarrassment than greeting.

"Can…it wait?" she asked.

"This is kind of important."

She smiled embarrassedly to the other queens. "I'm with my friend right now, Mistoffelees."

"I can _see_ that," the tom said, precariously eying Jemima as her large eyes stared curiously at the shy tom.

Victoria looked from Jemima to Mistoffelees, before sighing softly under her breath, taking Mistoffelees by the paw and leading him away. "Viccie," he said urgently. "I think…"

"Mistoffelees, if you want to flirt with my friends, do it on your own time."

"…what?" His ear drooped and he felt his face flush. "That's not what I'm talking about! This is about Demeter – I think she's in trouble."

Victoria looked slightly intrigued by this information. "She has Munkustrap to protect her; he won't let anything happen to her."

Mistoffelees leaned in close. "I think he's the trouble…"

"What they fight about in their own time is none of our business, Mistoffelees."

"Viccie, you don't understand, he's dangerous right now!" The tom said that louder than he meant to. Victoria looked shocked, and the three queen kittens peered over to where they were, curious as to what they were talking about. In that moment, Mistoffelees thought silence was most wise. He didn't want Victoria to carry this burden with her. "Promise me," Mistoffelees said, "that you will stay away from him, and keep the queens away from him, too, alright? I need to look into something."

Victoria looked her brother over with concern, before nodding solemnly. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Mistoffelees didn't have a clue. "I suppose…Old Deuteronomy is a good place to start. You stay here for the night, though. Have fun with your friends."

"Alright…"

Mistoffelees gave his sister a quick peck on the cheek before leaving. As he left, he held his stomach for a moment, suddenly feeling a little queasy, before regaining his composure and racing out of the junkyard.

Neither he nor the queen saw the tom in the shadows watching them. The tom drew back his paw, which changed from ginger back into silver and black. After a few moments, a silver tom emerged from the pipe he was hiding in, before slipping into the shadows and disappearing.

---------

The magical tom held his stomach as he walked, panting as he tried to catch his breath. For some reason, he was feeling rather sick, nauseous, like he was going to throw up, and he had no idea why. It was difficult to walk, as his stomach was cramping up on him, and all he wanted to do was curl up in a nice warm place, and maybe be served a dish of cream to ease his pain.

Finally, Mistoffelees had to stop, doubling over in pain, feeling ready to vomit.

"Are you feeling okay?" asked a voice.

Mistoffelees spun around, more astonished to have been taken by surprise than that someone was there. And to be met with the silver tabby grinning at him, almost mockingly, made the tom feel his stomach wrench. The tuxedoed tom clapped his paw over his mouth to stop from throwing up in front of the Jelllicle protector. After a few deep breaths, he opened his mouth to answer. But he thought he felt his lunch coming up, so he closed his mouth quickly, and allowed himself to bend forward a little, hoping it would ease the pain in his stomach.

"You don't look so good," the silver tabby said, cocking his head to the side as he took the other tom in. "What's the matter?"

"Just…" Mistoffelees put his paws on his knees, but tried to look up at the other tom. "Feeling a little nauseous. It should go away once I get home, though…"

"Home?" asked the other. "I thought you were going to Old Deuteronomy…"

Mistoffelees eyes went wide. His heart began to race, pumping adrenaline though him. Suddenly the pain in his stomach wasn't so bad. "What?"

"What were you going to him for, anyway?" The smile plastered on his face did nothing to calm the magical cat's nerves.

"Nothing," Mistoffelees said quickly. "Victoria hasn't seen him in a while, I was going to ask him to stop by."

"I see," said the tom, beginning to circle around the tuxedoed cat. "You're not looking too well. Maybe I should escort you home."

"No…I'm feeling a little better now. Stronger," he added, holding his head high.

"As strong as a tiny magician can be," said the tabby, sizing the smaller cat as he continued to circle. Mistoffelees kept his eyes on the other at all times. "Tell me…how are your powers coming along?"

Munkustrap had never been interested in Mistoffelees' power before, except to make sure he didn't accidentally blow up anything, or any cats with it. Mistoffelees' fur was completely on end. "Perfectly," he responded. "My powers are even more powerful than before…" He just couldn't stop himself from backing away.

"You seem a little antsy," the other said, stopping his circling and eying the tom carefully. "Is something wrong?" The smile on his face wouldn't fade…

"Leave me alone," Mistoffelees said, backing away, ready to run.

"What makes you think I'm going to hurt you?" He crept close to the tom. Mistoffelees felt a surge of energy run up his spine, and all sickness forgotten, he turned and ran. And the tabby ran after him.

The street seemed to go on forever, as the weakened tom did his best to outrun his much bigger adversary. But before he could turn the street corner, he was tackled from behind, hitting the floor hard. Then a set of paws wrapped tightly around his neck.

Mistoffelees focused all his energy into making his fur sparkle, then fizzle, until electricity shot from his coat, shocking Munkustrap and causing him to fall backwards. Mistoffelees turned, confused and frightened to see the arms, legs, and tail of Munkustrap, but the torso and face of Macavity. The silver and black fur quickly began to enshroud the exposed mystery cat, who was trying to shake off the burst of electricity he had been hit with.

Mistoffelees eyes widened. "I should have known!" he yelled, before running off to find a more crowded area.

He managed to find a small market place, where the afternoon lull left a few human patrons walking about on the street. Feeling a little safer, Mistoffelees leaned against a wall, feeling his earlier sickness taking its toll on him. He felt too weak to continue like this. He would have to find safety soon, or the drain on his body and his magic would leave him vulnerable.

Suddenly, his fur stood on end. Macavity was close. Mistoffelees looked around, but couldn't see anyone. He thought it best to start walking somewhere safe, maybe even into a human store, where they wouldn't tolerate a cat. If there was one thing Mistoffelees could do, it was hide.

A paw came from around a corner, and out popped a silver tabby, smiling wickedly. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

Mistoffelees threw a swipe at the tom, but Munkustrap….Macavity…caught his paw. "Why are you doing this?!" Mistoffelees screamed, trying to pull away. "What happened to Munkustrap?"

"What do they call you?" Macavity taunted, still donning his silver and black disguise. "The magical Mr. Mistoffelees? The original conjuring cat? A cat so clever?" He chuckled indulgently. "Who knows magic better than you?"

Mistoffelees continued to try and pull away, hissing and trying to swipe at the tom. "You can't even face me as Macavity?" he hissed, trying to gather all his energy into his captured paw.

"Wouldn't it be nice?" asked the tom. "If Munkustrap finally showed his true colors as the deceptive pollicle he is? His distaste in magic?" He tightened his grip on Mistoffelees' paw. "Finally doing away with the only other magical being he could destroy, seeing as he couldn't take his frustration out on Macavity? But what does it matter how the others see it?" He pulled Mistoffelees close, and the magical cat saw the eyes of his captor turn from green to their original yellow. "You just know too much."

"Let me go!" Mistoffelees released a burst of what magic he could afford to use in his weakened state that caused the tom to fall back, his ginger self showing, unable to bring it back to his silver tabby guise. Mistoffelees hissed at the cat. "You're too weak to keep your magic up anymore," he said, before turning to run.

But Macavity grabbed Mistoffelees' foot, and the tom tumbled. "Magic or no, I can still kill you." Macavity dug his claws into the tom's thigh, and Mistoffelees screamed in pain.

The magical cat swiped at Macavity, catching his shoulder, and Macavity released his grip just enough for the smaller tom to free himself and run. But Mistoffelees only managed to get around a corner before his leg gave out on him, and he stumbled, catching himself on a lamp post.

Macavity caught up to him seconds later, and Mistoffelees prepared a lightening bolt in his paws powerful enough to kill Macavity. A clenched ginger paw ripped through the air. Mistoffelees received the punch right in his stomach, and his magic fizzled in his paw as he fell to the ground.

Macavity kicked the smaller tom in the face, nearly knocking Mistoffelees out. Then he tore the young tom away from the post he was clinging onto. And falling back, he flipped Mistoffelees over him, sending the young tom flying through the air before he landed on the black concrete.

The black and white tom lay motionless in the middle of the road, face down to the pavement. The humans driving the car didn't see the young cat until he lifted his white masked face, terrified of the last thing he would ever see.

--------

Tantomile and Coricopat shot up from their sleep, looking off into the distance, then to one another. "What was that?" shivered the sister.

The brother shook his head. "I don't…know." But neither could rid themselves of the feeling of emptiness at a powerful magic having left the world.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Sorry for the late update...a lot of work to do lately, and I'm sooo tired, and my self-editing skills took a toll from all this exhaustion. Anyway..._

_ I have to give props to Chimalmaht. Your review made me laugh soooo hard. I'll never think of that part of the story the same again! Oh, if only Macavity could have a death like that! A little too morbid for a humor fic and a little too funny for a serious fic, but...maybe someday I'll find a place to put that idea. _

_That being said...this is the stretch to the end...I always get nervous when I get near the end of a story, even if I have it completely planned out...Thanks for the reviews! As a reward, you get to review some more!! ((smile))  
_

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Chapter eight

Demeter sat by herself, looking up at the coming storm. The clouds looked darker than they had in prior days, and she thought for sure the junkyard would be flooded in the next downpour. She thought of how muddy the ground would become—

_Flash_

_A body in the mud._

No, no, not those thoughts again. Not the thoughts of the rain drowning out the screams—

_Flash_

_A grave with no one to mourn it._

NO! She wouldn't be drawn back into that. It didn't happen. She imagined it—

_Flash_

_Emotionless and passionate, dead and more alive than she had ever known anyone to be. _

Demeter shook her head violently, hoping the thoughts would be erased from her mind.

"Hey…" Demeter turned to look at the Rum Tum Tugger. He seemed upset about something. He rarely came to her to talk of his own free will, especially when looking so somber. He knelt down by the queen. "Um…how are you doing?"

Demeter tried to blink out the haze that surrounded her mind. She had to focus on the Rum Tum Tugger, and at least _try_ to act sane. "I…I could be…I'm fine." What kind of answer was that?

"Listen," he said, putting a paw to his mouth and rubbing his bottom lip in a nervous fashion. "Have you seen Mistoffelees lately?"

What an odd question. "About two days ago," she said. "Bombalurina saw him, too."

"Yeah, she told me," he said, nodding, looking around as though looking for said queen. "She didn't want me to ask you about that, but…I thought you might know something about it."

"It?" Demeter asked, shaking her head. He really should be more specific; she felt like she had recently been hit by a car. Surely she must have looked that way.

"That…that we can't really…find him."

Demeter looked at the tom as though he had just informed her the world was about to erupt. "What do you mean you can't find him?" she asked.

"Victoria is a nervous wreck," he said, leaning in close to tell her in secret, though she was sure everyone knew. "She keeps saying something about how he went to see Old Deuteronomy about Munkustrap, and never came back."

_Flash_

"_You have to stop him from hurting--"_

"No!" Demeter hit her head with her paws, trying to stop the thoughts from creeping back in. Why couldn't she just get rid of them? Why did they have to continue to haunt her?!

"Demeter! Demeter, stop!" She felt paws on her own paws, causing her to stop. She looked up at the golden eyes of the Rum Tum Tugger, who at first looked concerned, before replaced by anger. "What are you doing?!"

"Tu-Tu-Tugger," she tried to say, shaking her head. "I think I'm going crazy…"

"Tell me something new," he said, tossing her paws aside and frowning at the queen. "I came to you for help, Demeter, not so you can play out your little drama instead of taking a missing cat seriously!"

"…I…I didn't mean to…"

"Save it." The Rum Tum Tugger shook his head at the queen, before walking off.

Of course he would be upset. Mistoffelees was missing, and she couldn't be sure she knew why. To anyone else, she must have seemed so self-absorbed in her own problems. What was she doing? To herself? To the tribe? And what for? She could barely remember…

And she really _was_ focusing on her own problems a lot…Everlasting Cat, what was wrong with her?

There was a paw on her wrist, and she was turned roughly to face her mate. Her fur began to stand on end as she looked at Munkustrap. He looked down at the queen with a mixture of concern and anger. "Did he hurt you?" he asked with a slight hiss to his voice.

"…what?"

"That tom? What was he doing talking to you? I saw the way he handled you!"

"Munkustrap…"

He glared off at the maned tom, who was still within eyesight. "I could kill him!"

"Munkustrap, you're hurting me!" The silver tabby looked back at the queen, before releasing her paw.

"I didn't mean to," he said, looking off. Demeter was about to vent some anger on the tom, to tell him off for being such a prick lately and that she wanted him to leave her alone for a while. But she became entranced at something happening with the tom's eyes. It seemed so subtle, but so clear at the same time. Were his eyes…changing color?

Before she could make sure she was seeing things straight, the tom closed his eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. When he opened them again, they were green.

"Munkustrap," she said, testing the waters, "have you heard? Mistoffelees has gone missing."

"I told them not to tell you," he said quickly, with no sympathy or remorse. "You've been very fragile, lately."

Demeter frowned. Normally, she would be upset about not knowing something so important because of him, but now her emotions mingled into something she couldn't place, as she glared at the tom. "I don't _need_ you to protect me against everything, Munkustrap."

The tom's eyes widened with curiosity. "Isn't that why you love me?" he asked. "Because I can protect you better than any other tom?"

"That's not the only reason," she said, looking him over as though he were insane. She wanted to ask what had happened to him. But she couldn't afford that argument with him. "Aren't you worried about him?"

"That Tugger?" he asked, frowning

"No! Mistoffelees!"

Munkustrap seemed to be looking for a good answer. "I'm sure it's probably nothing."

Demeter shook her head slightly, looking the tom over with disgust. "A good leader often instinctively knows to check out all possible harm that could come to his tribe." There was no avoiding the accusatory tone in her statement. She didn't want to hide it anymore. She was too tired to be afraid of his reaction.

Munkustrap looked very tired too. He seemed to collapse within himself, as his outer self visibly sulked. Silence sat between them as the queen eyed the tom, finding herself without empathy towards him. She watched as he absentmindedly put his paw over his shoulder. Demeter tilted her head to the side curiously, before unceremoniously removing the tom's paw from his shoulder, causing the tom to wince in pain. He had been concealing a wound that Demeter hadn't noticed before.

"Munkustrap…"

"It's nothing," he said, pulling away from her. "If it concerns you what happened to Mistoffelees, I'll go out and look for him." He turned swiftly, ready to walk away.

"Don't you think you should take someone with you?" Demeter asked. The tom stopped, staying still for a moment, and Demeter could feel the displeasure in that suggestion emanating from him. Then he turned, his face failing to try and express any other feeling than his annoyance with her.

"Excuse me?"

"I think you should take some back-up. Two cats or more. You never know…" Demeter looked away from the tom, her thoughts drifting to things she wished to purge from her mind. "You never know what can happen, after all."

There was silence between them again. The queen took in a deep breath, keeping in so many thoughts and feelings that it felt as though her body were shutting down from overload. "Demeter…" She looked up to the tom, who had a hint of desperation in his voice. "This place is too much for you."

Demeter furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

"You're always so unhappy. Come with me, away from here. I never see you happy anymore."

Demeter felt her head lull to the side at the thought. It was so draining to even think about leaving. She had something, something, _something_ that was so important to do here. And while she longed to remember it, she was too frightened of the memories it brought with it. "No, Munkustrap," she said plainly. "This is my family, I have to be here for them."

"For what?" he asked, the sudden sharpness in his voice causing her to start. He looked to her apologetically, before letting out a small huff of pent up annoyance. "Why can't things be like they were before?" he asked, more to himself than to her. With that, he got up and walked off.

Momentarily grateful to be alone, Demeter walked over to an old couch cushion, turned three times, then made herself into a comfy ball. Rest. She just needed rest, right?

Something caught her attention from around the corner. Demeter turned, staring intensely at whatever just moved. But there didn't seem to be anything there, so she let out a sigh, and looked forward again—

--To see a half-corporeal Munkustrap sitting in a corner on a wooden box.

Her jaw dropped momentarily as she looked at him, and he looked back, with curious eyes. Probably wondering what she was doing. Probably wondering why she was taking so long to do what he had asked of her. Or maybe just waiting for her to speak. If she could only find words…

"I…I'm dreaming," she managed to say.

"No," he said gently.

"You're not here."

"Yes, I am."

"You're not real."

"I'm right here."

"No!" Demeter cried. "I needed you, and you weren't there! I'm just…going insane. Everyone expected this; everyone can't be wrong, right? _That's_ the real Munkustrap. He may be acting a little weird, but at least I know he's _there_!" Demeter let out a laugh as she put a paw over half her face. This was unbelievable. She was doing it again, right? _Right_? "Everyone's going to hear me talking to myself."

"There's no one else here," Munkustrap said monotonously.

"Of course there isn't," Demeter reasoned, getting up and pacing back and forth, looking anywhere than at the tom she was talking to…or not talking to…she didn't remember what she chose to believe. "There isn't anybody here. That's the only time you appear, right? You're like…I don't know, maybe you're a manifestation of my conscience trying to tell me something. I've seen a couple of human shows! I know something about psychology."

"Human psychology," he said.

"What?"

"You're a cat; it might not work the same."

…Well, the imaginary creature had a point. "Still…I've just been torturing myself for nothing. You're not really dead. I'm not really here talking to myself…well, I am, but only because I think I see you…" Demeter let out a cross between a whine and a growl, as the emotions she had tried so hard to tame began to rise in her again. She turned to the tom, eyes glistening with tears she didn't dare shed. "Where were you?! I needed you! To tell me I'm not crazy and that everything would be alright! And you weren't there!"

"You didn't want to see me anymore," Munkustrap explained. "So you couldn't. As simple as that. But I was there for you."

Demeter stopped, taking in the tom, frustrated and confused. "You're a figment of my imagination," she said, putting her paws to her head. "Not really there, just taking the doubts in my mind and manifesting them into something that seems real to me, which is you, so I can be comforted by it, right?" She stepped a little forward, needing him to prove her wrong. "Right?!"

"Mistoffelees is dead," Munkustrap said simply, making Demeter stop and stare in bewilderment. "I think you could sense it. That's probably why you can see me now – because you can't trust anything Macavity is saying to you."

Demeter felt panic begin to rise up her spine. Dead? As in, dead like her love? As in she would have to bury another cat because of Macavity? She looked at her paws…she didn't want to see them muddy ever again. She thought her legs would give up from under her at the thought of her tribe being extinguished one by one. "If…if he's dead," she reasoned, "then why can't I see him?"

"Well, first, who would you rather see, me or him?" The queen choked back a laugh. It was wildly inappropriate, considering how both parties were dead, but she needed something to be funny right then. And the simplicity of the answer, and how many ways she could counter with a joke, made her wish it were a laughing matter. "Secondly, Mistoffelees is at peace with his death. And since I'm here to stop Macavity, there's no reason he should be too. He's done what he could to protect his loved ones before his death. So he's at the Heaviside, while I stay here…unable to go back until I know you and the others are safe."

The queen stared for a while. How she had been acting these past few days…because she was so weak against Macavity that he convinced her she wasn't seeing things clearly. She had pushed Mistoffelees aside because she was angry that he didn't see what she needed him to see when she came back muddy. She needed him to be able to see the impossible.

And when he finally did…_he_ came to _her_! For help? To help her? She pushed him away, right into Macavity's claws. He knew too much, and that monster _killed_ him.

His death should never have happened.

It felt as though a weight had been placed in her stomach. "…if I had…if I had stopped him when I had the chance…" she said softly. "Going to the tribe or something? I don't know…Macavity wouldn't hurt me like that, I don't think…but the others…I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to stop him without the others getting in the way. Again." Her stomach flipped at the admission of her own guilt. Why did it have to be Mistoffelees? She wouldn't have wanted it to be anyone…but Mistoffelees?

Demeter looked up to Munkustrap. "They…do they know he's dead?"

"He was taken to an animal hospital by the people in the car who hit him, but it was too late. His owners were contacted, and they made arrangements to have him buried at a pet cemetery."

"I thought you said Macavity killed him…"

"How do you think he got in front of that car?"

Demeter took in a few deep breaths, realizing just how much danger she and the rest of the tribe were in. Even when they find out what happened to Mistoffelees, no one would ever guess it was murder.

"Munkustrap, I'm scared…" But the tom wasn't there anymore.

Demeter's mouth lay half open at the thought. He left her _again_? When she needed him? Oh, sure, he said she wasn't alone, but she was beginning to not believe _that_ anymore!

She should be scared, talking to herself in the junkyard like that! What if someone had seen her?! Without him there, everything felt like it was falling right back into the stupor she had been in for the past few days. And she didn't know if she could survive it this time.

Then Demeter saw why Munkustrap had disappeared. Victoria was walking stiffly towards the gathering area in the junkyard, her eyes bloodshot, her paws clasped tightly in front of her. Though tempted to run up to the queen and ask her what was wrong, Demeter _knew_. And she knew what the white queen was going to do. And so, she let her walk past.

The gold and black queen wanted to forego the chaos and heartbreak of the news Victoria brought to the junkyard– she had lived it enough in her own personal grieving. So she curled up on the cushion she had been on earlier, closing her eyes and allowing her ears to fall back against her head, preparing for the worst.

But though she had her paws over her ears, she could still hear the cry of one of the cats - she wasn't sure which, or if it were more than one - as they screamed out in agony over hearing Mistoffelees was dead.

Demeter sank into a tighter ball, trying to escape from the noise. But surrounded by her own darkness, she suddenly felt a twinge of hatred. Not for Macavity, but for herself! She _should_ hear what her weakness of mind brought to the tribe.

Though shaken, the queen forced herself to get up.

It was time to stop Macavity.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Tireeeedddddd... But Crawler INSISTED that I updated, and ever since her pleading, any moment I had alone with my computer, I fixed this chapter. I guarantee NOTHING! One more chapter, but I might have to cut off the end to that and make it into an epilogue. So one or two more updates, for anyone who's counting. Anyways ...uh...enjoy? And REVIEW! Rawr...mew...Cause I'm going to sleep!_

_ And please, leave my liver be. ((smile))  
_

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**Chapter nine**

Demeter stepped into the shadows, not wanting to be seen as she watched the mourners. The cats who were in the junkyard at the time were huddled close. Several of the kittens were holding Victoria as she stared off into space, unable to cry. The Rum Tum Tugger sat by himself, a hollow form of what he once was. Coricopat was trying his best to comfort his sister, who was crying miserably, and Jennyanydots was hovering nearby, trying to help, but seemed too confused and flustered to do anything. Even the cats who didn't know him too well, like Admetus or Exotica, seemed listless at the thought of a world without the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees.

Then everyone turned their heads. An old, grey tom was walking up. Old Deuteronomy had come, a somber look on his face. Victoria ran up to him and collapsed into sobs in his arms. The others had gathered near, looking to the old tom for comfort or understanding of why this had to happen. Demeter could see him saying something, but it was too soft from where she was to hear.

With the tribe leader there, Demeter felt compelled to rid herself of the shadows and race to his side. She walked quickly, crouched low to the ground, making a beeline to Old Deuteronomy. She prepared herself to jump into his arms for comfort, tell him everything that happened, and fall asleep in his soft fur.

But then she stopped in her tracks in the middle of the meeting area.

Munkustrap was coming up, Rumpelteazer and Mungojerrie at his sides. The two tiger tabbies were talking to each other, worry written on their faces. But they stopped when the silver tabby did. Demeter studied his face closely for his reaction. Not one of understanding what had happened, but rather one of being caught. He quickly regained his composure, replaced the expression on his face as best her could, and turned to the tabbies behind him.

"It seems Mistoffelees is dead," he said in a hushed voice. The two tabbies stared at Munkustrap with a blank look on their faces. Demeter could only imagine what they were thinking - what had he just told them? And how he said it - so straightforward and with no hesitancy. Demeter felt sick to her stomach.

Made even worse when the tom turned and made eye-contact with her.

Demeter felt her fur bristle at the look.

He walked over to her, with the faint trace of a satisfied look on his face. Demeter refused to move, keeping her paws clamped in front of her. "Are you okay?" he asked. He seemed sincere.

"I'll be fine," Demeter said softly, her voice nearly catching in her throat. "Eventually…when I have time to heal…" She looked away. "What about you?" she asked softly. "You were _so_ _close_ to Mistoffelees."

Silence. Then with a strain, he answered, "As long as you're alright, I'll be fine."

Demeter looked back up to him. "Don't you even care to know how it happened?"

The tom seemed worn out by the question. "How did it happen?" he asked stiffly.

Then a melodic voice broke out over the sound of sniffles and sobbing from a queen coming up to where everyone was.

"Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity. For he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity. You may meet him in the by-street, you may see him in the square, but when a crime's discovered then--"

"Stop that!" Munkustrap barked. His fur was bristled, and he glared at the queen.

Everyone seemed to jump, including the unsuspecting Bombalurina who had just walked up to where the cats were gathered. She looked annoyed at first at the tom, before looking around at everyone else. Then her annoyance was replaced with concern. "Oh, my—what happened?"

The Rum Tum Tugger walked up to Bombalurina, gently taking her paw. The red queen seemed horrified, leaning away from the tom, as though preparing for the news she were about to receive. "Mistoffelees was hit by a car," he said softly, in an unsteady voice. "He…he didn't make it."

Bombalurina must have gone pale under her fur.

The silver tom in front of the gold and black queen went to reach for Demeter's paw, but she pretended not to see this, and went over to Victoria to express her sympathy, and give her a consoling hug. She didn't have to hide this time. Her tears could fall freely as she mourned the loss they had all suffered, known to the others or not.

-------

Demeter wished she had seen when Old Deuteronomy had left, but she was busy trying to speak to Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. She wanted to know where they had gone with Munkustrap. Mungojerrie seemed too upset to say anything. Rumpelteazer had told Demeter that they had been around the area to look for Mistoffelees, but didn't find anything.

The mourners were beginning to depart.

The queen looked about to make sure she wasn't being watched before chasing after Bombalurina, who had been silent since she found out. Demeter snuck up next to her, and rubbed up against her friend. Bombalurina started, looking to Demeter before giving a weak smile.

"Are you okay?" Demeter asked.

"Just thinking," the red queen said. "I don't think I believe he's gone. I wasn't incredibly close to him, but…who didn't love that little guy, you know?" Her voice caught in her throat.

Demeter nodded, looking over her shoulder one last time before back to Bombalurina. "Can we talk in your den? It's important."

"Sure, Hun," Bombalurina said, putting a protective arm around Demeter and leading her to where the red queen lived when not at her human home. Once there, Demeter made a small barricade at the entrance with the pillows and blankets the queen had in her den, making the red queen smile gently with amusement. "What are you playing at?"

Demeter turned, wringing her paws as she looked her friend over. This wasn't going to be easy. "I've gone over this in my head," Demeter said. "What I'm going to do about him. And while I had quite a few wild ideas in mind about how to stop him, knowing myself, I would never be able to do them. I need someone to help me…to believe me… That's the only way we can stop him. I'm counting on you, Bomba…"

Bombalurina's amusement turned to confusion, as she regarded her friend. "Who are you talking about, Dem?"

Demeter took in a deep breath. "Munkustrap…is not Munkustrap," she said finally. Before Bombalurina could verbally respond, she went on. "I know this sounds insane...I thought I was going insane for a while there, but when I heard about Mistoffelees, I knew. There's no way I could have known about Mistoffelees' death if it weren't for…well…"

The queen stopped, looking down. Maybe the part about there being a ghost was a little too much. "Demeter?" Bombalurina asked, concern in her voice.

"When Munkustrap came back that night, he wasn't Munkustrap. He was Macavity. I know what you're going to say!" The red queen was about to interrupt, but the desperation in the other's voice must have made her stop. "But you don't know what I've been through since then. I knew he was different, Bomba, we _all_ have noticed it! But when I left one morning, just to get away from him, I went to the park, and I found...I found…Munkustrap's body." The words came out as a quiver.

"Munkustrap's body?" Bombalurina asked, confused.

"Yes…Macavity had killed him because of me. Because of _me_, Bomba! And then…he started posing as Munkustrap. He used that trick, like he did at the ball, to pose as another cat, except he's gotten better at it, and he's been posing as Munkustrap ever since then! And Mistoffelees figured it out, or at least he must have, because he killed him too!"

Bombalurina looked away from Demeter for a moment, thinking of a response, as her tail twitched at the end. Then she looked back at her friend. "…he was hit by a car, Demeter."

"He was _thrown_ in front of it!" Demeter said. "Didn't you notice? Munkustrap had scratches on his shoulder? I bet he fought with Mistoffelees."

"I didn't see any scratches on him."

Didn't he? Come to think of it, she didn't notice the scratches the last time he saw him, either. "He's magical," Demeter defended. "He might have slipped when I saw them, or let his guard down around me, but they were there, and they'll be there again! They have to!"

"Demeter, are you listening to yourself?"

"He's dangerous!" Demeter said loudly. "I've been going around and pretending this wasn't true, and look where it's gotten us! Mistoffelees is dead! And we don't know who's next!"

Bombalurina seemed mixed between disgust and horror at what Demeter was telling her. Then, slowly, her face softened. "Oh," the red queen said softly. "You feel guilty about Misto?"

"Yes," Demeter said, feeling relief that Bombalurina believed her.

"Demeter," the queen said softly, coming up to her friend and putting a paw on her shoulder. "His death is not your fault. I know you probably feel guilty because we didn't treat him very nicely the last time we saw him. I know how you feel! I feel terrible, too."

"No…"

"But we didn't know this would happen! This was an accident."

"No! Bombalurina, don't you believe me?"

"It's hard losing a friend, hun. It's hard to handle, but don't go blaming yourself."

"No, listen to me!" Demeter pushed Bombalurina paw off of her and looked up, resolute to make her believe him. "Munkustrap is dangerous! He did this! Macavity is posing as him and--"

"You can't go blaming Munkustrap for this because you had a fight," Bombalurina said sternly. "And I know you're always thinking of Macavity--"

"That's not it," Demeter barked. It felt as though the fire inside her wouldn't go away. "I get it, Bomba. I know what you think about me! I heard you talking with Cassandra, but I thought when it came down to it, you would at least try and have faith in me!"

"Demeter!" But she had thrown aside the pillows and comforters and ran out of the den, as far as she could get from the red queen. She didn't want to speak to her anymore! Her best friend thinking she was a nutcase was too much for her to deal with at the moment. Especially with the tribe in danger. All she needed was someone to back her up, to help her come up with a plan.

She would have had that in Mistoffelees…

No, she couldn't think about that now. She had to stop him. Mistoffelees' death wasn't acceptable, and to let another day go by with the doppelganger posing as Munkustrap was reprehensible.

Even if her best friend didn't believe her.

Someone had to know how to stop Macavity! She had to find someone she knew would believe her. They could do it together somehow, right? So she went to find the next best cat – Alonzo.

The black and white tom was sitting by himself, looking as deep in thought as Bombalurina. Unlike the red queen, however, Alonzo had been crying, evident by his red eyes and tear stained fur. Demeter sat by his side and nuzzled him, not unlike how she did to Bombalurina. The tom looked over, surprised to see Demeter, and wiped remnant tears from his eyes. "Demeter," he said with a soft voice. "I didn't expect to see you."

"I had to speak with you, Alonzo," she said seriously.

"You look…scared," he said, turning to the queen.

"This is going to sound ridiculous, Alonzo," she said. "But you have to understand, I didn't know this was going to happen. What happened to Mistoffelees was terrible," she said, pausing a moment as the tom shuffled at the mention of their deceased friend. "But I know the truth about what happened, and we have to do something before these funerals recurrent."

Now it was Alonzo's turn to look scared. "What do you mean by that?"

"Munkustrap," she said, before glancing over her shoulder, then getting in closer. "He's really Macavity."

Alonzo's jaw dropped for a moment, looking between the queen's eyes. She could see his fur bristle visibly at this. "What are you talking about?"

"When I told you…" She took a breath before continuing. "When I told you someone I knew had died, I meant…Munkustrap." She kept her eyes locked on those of Alonzo's. The tom didn't dare break her intense gaze. "Macavity killed him and took his image to be able to get to me."

Alonzo finally looked away from her, shifting uncomfortably. "What do you mean?" he asked, not looking Demeter in the eyes again.

"When I was with Macavity, I didn't know anything about him. Munkustrap told me the truth, and I was afraid of Macavity after that. Eventually, I fell in love with Munkustrap, but I was still with Macavity. Needless to say, I got out, but things were dangerous for us for a while. Macavity always blamed Munkustrap for how things were never the same between us. I thought once I joined the tribe, we would be safe. I never imagined Macavity would do anything like this! I didn't think he was so obsessed with me…"

She lowered her head, trying to draw Alonzo's gaze back up to hers. "That day you saw me covered in mud, I had spent the day…or days…before…I don't even know how long it was. I had found Munkustrap buried in the mud. I couldn't tell you because I was afraid of what Macavity might do if you knew, but now that I've seen what he's done to Mistoffelees, I need someone to help me stop--"

A voice came from behind them, startling them both. "Would you stop this?!" Alonzo and Demeter broke apart, Demeter looking at the source of the voice. The Rum Tum Tugger came out of the shadows, anger flaring in his eyes. "Mistoffelees just died! He's _dead_! And you're going around telling stories like that? For what? Attention? I knew you were insane, I didn't think you were heartless as well."

Demeter looked to Alonzo, who avoided her gaze, before looking back to Tugger. "I'm not doing this for attention!" she said, just as angry as Tugger was now. "Look at how you mourn for Mistoffelees! How do you think it's been for me knowing that--"

"What?" the tom cat spat. "That your mate who's falling all over himself to bring some sanity back into that empty head of yours is dead? Where do you get this from?"

"I didn't come here to tell it to _you_," Demeter said back, her hackles rising. "And if I did, why would I make that up about my own Munkustrap?!"

"I thought we've covered that you're crazy," the tom said with a low growl. To Alonzo, he said, "Are you going to let her talk like that to you? You're supposed to be a guardian, not helping her in her delusions."

"Did you want something, Tugger?" Alonzo asked with a tired voice.

At the sound of the other tom's exhaustion, the maned cat seemed to shrink back a bit. He probably didn't mean to speak so forcefully to him. "Cassandra's here. She just heard what happened. She needs you."

"Right," Alonzo said, nodding solemnly. The Rum Tum Tugger looked to Demeter, who gave an equally irritated look back to the tom. "Leave her alone, Tugger," the black and white said wearily. "We've all had a tough day."

"Alonzo," Demeter pleaded, scared he would abandon her as well.

"Come with me, Demeter," he said.

Tugger move forward. "What about--?"

"Tell Cassie I'll be right there." With that, Demeter went to follow Alonzo. She refused to look back at the Rum Tum Tugger. They never really liked each other to begin with. He always seemed to _have_ to have the last word.

"Thanks for rubbing salt in the wounds, by the way," he called after them.

Demeter made as though she were going to turn and attack the maned tom, but Alonzo grabbed her arm. "No," he said plainly.

"I can take him," Demeter said lowly. "He's weak."

"He's stronger than you think," Alonzo said, almost amusingly.

"He's all fluff and no muscle," Demeter said determinedly. Were the circumstances different, she never would have acted so snippy to Tugger, but she had everything to lose without a member of her own tribe turning against her. All she could feel was the adrenaline pumping through her veins. If Macavity were to put herself in front of her that moment, she would have felt she could take him.

"Here we are," Alonzo said. Demeter looked up, then her bravery suddenly dissipated. They were in front of Jennyanydots' den. Frozen in place, Demeter didn't know what to say, how to react, what to think of Alonzo at that moment, as the black and white tom went into the den and came out with the Gumbie Cat herself. "Stay with Jenny tonight, Demeter," Alonzo said.

Her knees gave out from under her and she sat on the ground. "…why?" she asked meekly, feeling the tears beginning to sting her eyes.

"You're not well right now, Demeter," Alonzo said resolutely. "When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

"I…I…I…" The nerve of him! Thinking she needed help from Jennyanydots rather than from him! To think that she was--to dismiss her because ---How _dare_ he!

Alonzo turned to Jennyanydots. "She came back covered in mud one day, and she told me someone she knew died. Now she's saying it was Munkustrap. I don't know what happened to her that day, but I know she believes what she's telling me. You can see it in her eyes. I'm worried about--"

"I'm right here!" Demeter said loudly and clearly. "I can hear you just fine. Don't talk about me as though I have no idea what you're saying."

Alonzo bowed his head apologetically. "Demeter, Jenny will help you."

"Tell me all about it, dear," said the older queen, gingerly taking Demeter by the arm. "I think you should stay with me for the next few days. I know this day has been hard for all of us…"

"I am _not_ insane!" Demeter said, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks.

"We never said that, deary," the Gumbie Cat said.

"Tugger was saying that earlier," Alonzo said softly to Jennyanydots. "Listen, Cassie just found out what happened…"

"I understand," she said. To Demeter, she said, "Just come in here and rest up, dear."

Demeter tried to talk through her tears, but her words came out incomprehensible. She leaned against Jennyanydots, but couldn't find it in her heart to rest. Her muscles were so tense, she thought if she sat down, she would break.

"Calm down, Demeter," the Gumbie cat said. She guided Demeter to a sitting place, and the gold queen could feel something being shoved into her mouth. Demeter felt the bitter taste of alcohol, and before she spit it out, it reached the back of her throat and she instinctively swallowed. "That should calm you down enough for the night."

Coughing, Demeter batted at Jenny. "What kind of a nurse are you!?" she asked, seeing the older cat in a different light. The queen had a large, blunt syringe in her paws that she had used to administer the…medicine.

"Oh, when cats come in with injuries and can't calm down, I find that a little bit to drink calms their nerves. Wouldn't that just explain why Skimble is always so chipper?" Jennyanydots made a move to smile, but failed.

…And they were calling _her_ insane!

Demeter got up, her fur on end, as she for the first time in her life, was able to scare Jennyanydots with nothing but a stare. "Don't you _ever_ shove anything down my throat again!"

"Now, you need to rest," the queen said, trying to ignore the threat and sit Demeter back down.

"I can't rest!" Demeter said, feeling her paws shaking. "Macavity has to be stopped."

"Well," Jennyanydots said, slightly surprised at this statement. "How do you intend to do that when you're so nervous?"

"I've rested enough," Demeter said, getting up once more and making her way out the entrance.

Then her fur went on end. Before she could stop herself, she whispered, "Macavity!" just loud enough that Jennyanydots heard her. The black and gold queen backed up onto cushion used as a bed, and sat down, her nails clawing deeply into the fabric. Then entered Munkustrap, looking intensely at Demeter the moment he caught site of her. The gold queen could see Jennyanydots backing out of the way.

"Demeter," he said, giving a slight smile at the sight of the queen. Sure. He must have been exhausted having to deal with the aftermath of what he had caused. "Come on, we're going to our den."

"No," Demeter answered quickly.

"Yes, we are," he said sternly. Demeter mechanically moved to go with the tom, but she thought she felt her muscles ready to snap from stress, and so stayed put. "It's been a long day, I was going to take you somewhere to forget about all this."

"I'm sure you were," Demeter said. Oh, did she say that out loud? By the looks on the tom's face, she would think so. "It _has_ been a long day, and I don't feel too good."

"Well," said the silver tom. "I can make you feel better." Then his nose scrunched up. "Have you been drinking?"

"You know…" Demeter and the tom looked over to Jennyanydots, who seemed to be holding strong against the urge to run. "I don't feel comfortable letting Demeter go. If she feels comfortable staying here tonight, she should stay here under my care." For a moment, Demeter was never happier to know the Gumbie Cat. "You're not looking too well either, Munkustrap. Maybe you should stay here, too."

…Stupid, stupid Gumbie Cat!

"No, thank you," the tom said with a tone of finality that left the Gumbie Cat bewildered.

"You know," Demeter said through shuddering breaths, "she's right. You really don't look well. You seem tired. And what of those scratches I saw on you the other day?"

"What scratches?" Munkustrap countered menacingly. Demeter looked. Yes, Bombalurina was right, the scratches were gone. But the tom seemed to be looking ill. "Are you coming with me, or not?"

"Leave me be for one night," Demeter said with her own tone of finality, trying her best to stare down the silver cat. She was sure, however, what she considered a menacing stare, others saw as a look of pure terror.

"What?" he asked, frowning. "I've already tried that, I'm not happy spending any nights without you. Are you trying to say that you don't want to be with me tonight?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Demeter said, her voice squeaking.

"Why the hell not?"

"Why?" she asked. "Why?! Mistoffelees is dead!" Demeter screeched, her hackles rose, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She felt a growl in the back of her throat threatening to come out. "Now leave me alone! Go away! Get out!" Demeter hissed and swiped at the tom from where she was seated, not daring to go near him in order to do so. "Get out, get out, GET OUT!"

To her surprise, she had managed to cause the tom's eyes to widen in disbelief. In that moment, Jenny found her will again and began to shoo the dumbfounded Munkustrap out of the den, and she could hear him begin to argue with her. But Jenny was hardly a queen to be contended with when it came to Demeter.

"She doesn't want to see you right now. If you ever want to work things out with her again, I suggest you go!"

"I'm not going to be dismissed by a--"

"What ever happened to your manners?" Jennyanydots asked in such a maternal tone, even the doppelganger had to stop and listen. "Never speak back to me like that again! I'm doing this for your own good, now GO!"

Demeter jumped when she heard a growling sound, followed by a loud thump as something hit something metal. The image of a battered and broken Jennyanydots lying helplessly on the floor flashed across her mind. The gold and black queen raced towards the scuffle, terrified she might be too late.

But her exit was blocked when the Gumbie Cat leaned against the entrance way. Her eyes were wide in fright. "I can see why you'd be scared of him, dear…" she said, visibly shaken.

Demeter looked past the queen to see the old picture frame which had been thrown across the yard in a fit of frustration, and had hit the old car. With that, the gold and black queen broke into tears, collapsing against Jennyanydots.

"There, there," Jenny said. "It's okay to cry." Demeter tried to talk, but it came out incoherent again. "Do you want to go to sleep?" Jenny asked sweetly. Demeter shook her head. "Do you want me to get anything for you?" Demeter shook her head. "Do you want more scotch?"

At this, Demeter nodded.

It was night to curl up against a motherly warmth, and it helped a little bit to calm her nerves. The scotch calmed her the rest of the way.

-------

Jenny had fallen asleep close to the gold and black queen. But Demeter couldn't fall asleep. Even though her muscles were considerably less tense, and a slight giddy feeling would wash over her every now and then, she couldn't bring herself to sleep. There was too much at stake with each moment that passed. She thought for sure Jenny could have lost her life in that fight between her and Macavity. He was losing his chance, and knew it.

With any chances of rest thwarted, Demeter spent her time awake listening to Jennyanydots sniffle in her sleep at the trauma of the day, and to think of what she could do. Her head was pounding, though, and the thoughts were coming in less clearly than before. And when everything came down to it, she felt she could only trust one cat.

Demeter got up, covered Jennyanydots in a blanket, and with a sigh to release some pent up tension in her, she snuck out of the junkyard to make her way to the Vicarage Wall.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: I'm soo in love with author's notes. Why? Well, I can sit here and waste your time before you get to the story! How? For example, I can explain why it took me so long to get chapter ten up! See, pride in my writing, panic in getting it right, desire to put everything I wanted to in it, fear that you won't like the ending, knowledge that I only get one shot, and of course, everyday life, caused me to delay it's posting! But here it is, in all it's glory. It's hard for me to tell how it turned out, since I manipulated it so much to my desires, and I'm so used to it, I don't know if it's good...I'm sure I may get complaints... So, if that is the case, may I just say that this is your last chance to ask any questions, if something was unclear, and I'll try and answer them in the epilogue. Like, literally in the Author's note for the epilogue, the epilogue itself is pretty set in stone. What can I say? I'm kinda proud I got all the way through it! The epilogue should be fun to write! No pressure like this chapter, but finishing things off_

_Now that I have accomplished what I have set out to do (waste your time before the story) let me just say that this note will be longer. Why? Because...I can? Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all my reviewers. A very very very special thanks to _Xbakiyalo _for reviewing me since the beginning! Love ya for that! YOU may have anything you wish from me, be it story or art (but I'm sooo much better at writing than art...really...trust me. Of course you can always ask for nothing...but I would owe you.) To _Chimalmaht, Crawler_, and _Lozzypop_, hugs and kisses...oh, and if you want a story, I'll do Crawler's thing and do a commissioned story. But remember, it might take me a bit to get to them. I have a lot going on right now. To my one time reviewers (and you MAY review again, two more chances, hehe) _Adi Sagestar, Sarah Elizabeth Emily Woods, Starglow_, and _Wolfjet_...Uh, cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. But you have to use your imagination. They're quite good, really. ((Really, I always find it funny how many people DON'T review a story. I guess it makes sense, waiting to see how the story goes, but my thought is, if you like a story, you should tell the person somehow, because they might stop if they don't get feedback! Ah, well...That's not my case in point, because I'm stubborn...anyways)) _

_I know this was a long author's note, but it's a VERY long chapter! I usually type up about seven pages on Word, and this one was fourteen--DOUBLE! I don't know if you can read it in one sitting! Oh, which reminds me..._

_Warning: Do not read this story in it's entirety in one sitting as it may cause a roller coaster of emotions, leaving you to be overwhelmed when time to review..._

_How's that for a warning, Wolfjet? ((smiles)) A little late in the game, though...God, I'm hyper right now...Anyways, you have to get in the mood for this story, so take a moment, get the somber feeling, remember Demeter being pretty bad off at the end of the last chapter, take a deep breath, and read!_**  
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** Chapter ten**

The night lacked any sign of light, as the dark clouds had swallowed up the stars and moonlight. It was only until the little queen was in the human streets that she found any clarity as to where she was. But the flickering streetlights did little to calm her nerves, as they tended to create illusions in every shadowy corner. Every moment, she would turn her head at a new possible danger. There, were those eyes? There, was that a paw? Was that a creature following her?

Swallowing hard, Demeter felt a pain by the action, as her throat was so dry. Her muscles, worn; her emotions, exhausted; her eyes, threatening to close and never open again. Combined with the toll of alcohol to her system, it was only by some miracle that she continued to be able to walk upright. Her vision began to double, increasing the threat she perceived all around her. Every step she took became more daunting with each passing breath. And yet, she found that she was giggling every now and then.

"Munkustrap," she said softly to herself, "I don't know how you managed to do it…"

Of course, he was probably never at the level of exhaustion she was at, nor under the influence of spirits – both ghost and drink kind. Then again, she could only imagine what the silver tom did on his time away from the tribe. Demeter giggled at the thought of him disapproving of Skimbleshanks showing up thoroughly imbibed with Asparagus, yet joining them the next night at the local pub. In fact, she wouldn't put it past him…

"Oh, Munkustrap," she said softly, stopping and leaning against a wooden fence. "Why did you have to leave me?"

Bright light.

Thunder roared in the distance, and Demeter spun around, her fur on end. Her heart was pounding, and for a moment she felt a burst of energy that caused her to run around the corner, before tumbling to her knees.

If she could have, she would have stayed there and let the tears that the thunder urged to come out fall.

But she remembered her mission.

Demeter struggled to her weary feet, begging her muscles to continue carrying her to where she needed go.

------

"Old Deuteronomy lived a long time," Demeter sang to herself. "He's a cat who has lived many lives in succession…he's famous in…_something_…a movie?" She shrugged to herself then said, "I don't know," with a melodic tone.

"Demeter, my child…" Demeter stopped and looked up wearily at the Vicarage wall. What? When did she get there? She thought she would never make it…

Old Deuteronomy looked down at her with fatherly concern, before delicately making his way down the wall. For a brief moment, Demeter wondered how he managed to climb it with such weary old bones. She only had weary muscles, and the thought of jumping a wall was absolutely daunting.

"Deuteronomy," she said, suddenly realizing how happy she was to see the old fluff ball. She giggled at the thought. A fluff ball…

"My dear," he said, looking her over, taking her by the paw and leading her to sit down as he stood, looking down at the creature he once knew as Demeter. "What has happened to you?"

"Old Deuteronomy," she said, trying to get a grip on herself, as exhaustion was about to rob her of any idea why she was even there to begin with. "It's about Munkustrap. He's not really Munkustrap. He's Macavity. He killed Munkustrap _and_ Mistoffelees, and he wants me."

Well, when she put it like that, she wouldn't believe herself, either.

"Oh, dear child, you're not well."

"No!" Demeter said, jumping to her feet. "Don't tell me I'm insane! I've had enough of it - cats not believing me! My own best friend…Jenny and her stupid scotch."

"Scotch?" the old tom asked, perplexed.

"No, she made me!" Demeter answered the question she was sure was lurking in his head. She was ready to burst into tears again. "You don't believe me, do you? How can you not believe me?! Who else is going to believe me if you don't? Munkustrap!?" Demeter called suddenly, turning away from the old tom sharply. "Munkustrap, show yourself to your leader, if no one else!" She knew that wouldn't work. "Everlasting Cat, he's stubborn even as a ghost…"

"When was the last time you've been to your human's house?" Old Deuteronomy offered, putting a paw on the queen's shoulder.

Demeter started laughing suddenly to herself. "The last time I was at a human's house was Munkustrap's…" Her laughing turned into chocking sobs. Slowly, she collapsed to the floor at the memory of burying her only love. How she wished everything was just a bad dream. When she woke, everyone would be back. Alive. Unburied.

At that, the tears stopped.

"Demeter," she heard the old tom's comforting voice say. "Stay here with me, tell me what this is that is bothering you. Together, we can find a solution to your pro--" His gentle coaxing was interrupted by what sounded like resumed laughing. The queen's laughs got louder, almost maniacal, as she fell back and just allowed the feeling to wash over. Upon seeing the fear on Old Deuteronomy's face, she began to laugh more. Oh, he just didn't understand the joke.

"Of course!" she said after her laughter had subsided. "Of course you don't believe me! There was never a _body_!" Quickly, she hoisted herself to her knees and clutched onto Old Deuteronomy's fur, every other emotion gone as she finally focused on what to do. "I've been so stupid! You have to go to Munkustrap's house! Go to his backyard. There you'll find a stone with the name his human's gave him written on it. It says 'Our precious little tiger' on it!" She couldn't read the change of expression on his face. "If you've ever had any respect or trust in me, you would go to his house and find the truth out for yourself! For the safety of your tribe, that he not kill anyone else, you _have_ to listen to me!"

The old tom seemed to be thinking as he looked down at the queen. Her heart seemed to slow its beats as she bit on her lip.

Finally, he asked, "And what of you?"

Her mind drifted. She could just leave the junkyard now, and not have to worry about any of the tension or insanity of her life there anymore. All she ever wanted there was gone, now. If she left Old Deuteronomy right then, and ran as fast as her feet could take her…

Macavity would never stop chasing her. He would destroy what was left of her tribe. She would never really be at peace. And she would let down Munkustrap.

"I have to go back," Demeter said determinedly. "I can't leave them there. _Him_ there. Not until this is…"

Silence fell between them as the queen got a hold of herself. Her paws began to shake, made worse by the sound of thunder coming closer and closer to them. Surely, it would rain soon in the junkyard.

Demeter let go of the old cat. If her grip on his fur was painful, he said nothing of it, as he offered a paw to help her up. She refused it. Once up on her two unsteady feet, a sound, a mix between a giggle and a sob, escaped her mouth, as she looked up at the tribe leader. "I can't leave them alone right now. I've been gone too long as it is. That cat doesn't sleep. If he's already realized I'm gone… You must be careful. Lest he get you, too."

Without another word, she ran away, not knowing what would become of her.

--------

She had never felt like this before – such unfocused alertness. Like she was floating above everything. Her emotions exhausted, all she had to rely on was what she had set out to do. If only she _knew_ what that was. Go home and defend it to the death as any of the guardians would? She was no guardian. She could barely call herself a Jellicle at times, she felt so removed from the others.

Demeter entered the junkyard with little fanfare. Now what? Put one of her ridiculous plans, which spanned from simply getting into a catfight she wouldn't win to somehow shoving Macavity into a blender and turning it on, into effect? How would she accomplish any of it? No, she felt too powerless on her own. The last time she faced Macavity at the ball, the tribe was there to back her up, whether they believed her or not. She needed one, just _one_ cat, to be with her.

Even if _she_ didn't believe her.

Mechanically, Demeter walked into Bombalurina's den. The queen was sprawled on her back, one leg stuck up in the air, her mouth open as she snored softly. Demeter wished she could rest as easily as Bombalurina was resting. It would have been cute…if she hadn't felt so betrayed by her lately.

Kneeling down next to the red queen, Demeter gently nudged Bombalurina. The red queen kicked her splayed out leg, before turning on her side. Demeter nudged again. The queen opened her eyes, giving a soft, confused purr as their eyes met.

Then Bombalurina shook her head and frowned in concern at Demeter. "You keep looking worse and worse every time I see you!" the queen said.

"Come on," Demeter said, nudging her friend. "I don't want to do this alone."

"Do _what_ alone?" Bombalurina asked, getting up, not bothering to groom her fur. "Demeter, you're really starting to worry me! What's going on with you?"

"Maybe I could show you, too," Demeter said, an idea popping in her head. "The gravestone! Then you would believe me…but…Deuteronomy. I hope he's okay. It'll take him forever to get to Munkustrap's house. But if he doesn't make it…Wait, I should find out where Macavity is first. What has he been doing since I've been gone?"

"Macavi--? Demeter, stop this!" Bombalurina said, getting up, using a paw to push her mushed fur into place before taking Demeter by the shoulders. "You're scaring me, the way you're acting. You have to calm down. The other cats are going to think you're crazy!"

"I am not crazy," Demeter said, determined, pointing a paw at Bombalurina. Her paw shook visibly.

"Oh, honey," Bombalurina said, taking the queen's paw. "Look at yourself! You need food and rest! We should take you to see Jenny."

Demeter pulled away. "I've already seen her! She forced alcohol down my throat!"

"She _forced_ alcohol down your throat?!"

"Well…at first," Demeter admitted. "But that's not the—stop looking at me like that!"

"Just rest here for the day," Bombalurina said. "I'll make sure no one sees you like this."

"Why? Because it embarrasses you to be my friend?" Demeter snapped. Again, she trudged out the den. But this time, the red queen followed her. It was of little importance to her, anymore. She needed someone who could understand! It was idiotic to go to Bombalurina to begin with.

Then she saw Victoria, walking with the other kittens. Her stomach flipped upon seeing the white queen. Their pain was the same, and Victoria had always seemed more trusting than the other cats! Before Demeter knew what she was doing, she ran up to the other queen.

"Victoria," she said urgently. "I'm so sorry about Mistoffelees. If I had stopped him…"

Victoria looked up with her swollen eyes, about to say a mechanical thank you, before realizing what the other queen had said. "Stopped him?" she asked meekly.

"I knew better than to let him go," she said, as the feeling of guilt began to sit heavy in her stomach. Suddenly, she was losing her nerve, but she had to finish what she started. "Macavity can't be trusted."

Victoria looked appalled for a moment, but her interest in what the queen was saying kept her attention. However, Bombalurina quickly put a paw over Demeter's mouth, pulling her against her chest. "Sorry, Viccie," she said quickly, trying to drag Demeter back to her den. "She's been having bad dreams about Macavity, and I think with everything going on, she's starting to confuse them with reality."

Demeter elbowed the red queen in the stomach, much to everyone's surprise, including Bombalurina herself. In her shock, she let the gold and black queen go. "I'm not confused!" Demeter said, glaring at her friend. "I have not been having bad dreams! I haven't really slept in days!"

Bombalurina gave a low growl as she returned the glare. "Well, _that_ makes me feel better about you." She propped herself against an old cabinet and took a moment to breath as she held her stomach.

"You won't even believe me!" Demeter said to the red queen, putting her paws to her head.

She heard one of the kittens whisper, "Maybe you should go get Munkustrap."

"NO!" Demeter screamed, spinning around to stop whoever was going to do so, which turned out to be Plato. He stopped mid-sprint, looking back at Demeter in shock. "Don't get Munkustrap! _Don't_ get Munkustrap!"

The kittens looked to one another. Victoria looked to Plato. "Alonzo," she said softly. Plato nodded, and ran.

Pouncival walked up to Etcetera and whispered, "I think she's gone stark raving mad…"

"Yeah," Etcetera agreed.

Demeter turned and gave them a look, teetering to the side. "I'm not mad…" She caught herself before she fell over.

"Or drunk," Etcetera suggested back to Pouncival.

"What's this about Macavity?" Victoria pressed, stepping away from the other kittens.

"It's nothing," Bombalurina said quickly, stepping in front of Demeter. She leaned in close to the queen, keeping a good distance from any more elbowing the queen may try to do. "If you want to continue living in the junkyard without everyone treating you like an outcast--!" The queen stopped as Demeter was trying to get past her. Bombalurina kept stepping in the way, gingerly putting her paws on the queen's shoulder, not forgetting the last time she tried to physically stop her. "Just listen to me! I'm your friend! I'm telling you this for your own good. Don't put Victoria through this, she's vulnerable!"

Victoria let out a huff. "What about Macavity!?" she asked again, desperation in her voice.

"Oh, Everlasting Cat, not this again!" The Rum Tum Tugger was coming up past Alonzo, who was being led by Plato. A few other curious cats followed the toms at what all the commotion was about. Or perhaps they didn't want to be alone if there was danger, considering everything that had happened in the day past. Either way, the cats had drawn a crowd. Demeter didn't think she could deal with a crowd.

Alonzo stepped in front of Tugger, and Cassandra slipped in behind him, looking on with a confused look on her face. "What's going on?" Alonzo asked, looking between Demeter and Victoria. The gold queen could feel the stares in her direction. She knew she looked a mess, but next to the elegant white queen, she must have looked the part she was playing at the moment.

"Leave Victoria alone," Tugger said to Demeter. She had never seen him look so livid with anyone before. Even the kittens seemed to back away from the curious cat. "Don't go putting your ideas in her head, too."

"You don't have to shield me from the truth," Victoria said angrily to Tugger. Then to Demeter, "What is it?"

Tugger cut Demeter off before she could answer. "She's going to tell you that Munkustrap is really dead and that Macavity took his place. And that he…he…killed…" he choked the last few words out. "Well…you know."

"That's insane!" Pouncival said.

"Oh, goodness," Bombalurina said, looking away, trying to shrink down in size due to association.

"Dead?" Cassandra asked, looking up to Alonzo. "Munkustrap died, too?"

"No, Cass," Alonzo said quickly, as the queen looked ready to begin weeping all over again. "It's complicated, but--"

"It's true!" Demeter said, as the feelings of vulnerability had increased with her embarrassment. She didn't think she had any tears left, but they were threatening to come out. The other cats seemed to be hiding from view, but she could hear their whispering voices as they talked about what the queen claimed.

"What's going on here?"

The few cats gathered parted as Munkustrap came trotting up, looking to be in a particular mood.

Everyone went silent as the silver tom stood in the middle of the proceedings. The silence made the tom's fur bristle. He looked over to Demeter, and she backed away. Love her or not, she couldn't stand the tension, let alone how close it was to breaking.

It seemed the silver tom and the gold and black queen stared at each other for an eternity. Only they existed in the world, as he looked to be fighting against whatever he felt against the tribe at that moment. Words were lost along with time, and everything faded to white.

A paw gripped Demeter's. Suddenly hurled back to the junkyard, the queen broke her gaze to see that Victoria was at her side, pressed close to her. She looked concerned for the gold and black queen, before turning a nervous eye to the silver tom. "Mistoffelees…before he left, he told me Munkustrap was dangerous."

The silver tom's eyes went wide, before changing in the slightest to a murderous look directed towards the white queen. He closed his eyes, and replaced that look with concern, all within the time frame of a second. Demeter held Victoria close after this, a renewed faith in herself and in the tribe.

"…why would he say something like that?" The Tugger asked, confusion riddling his face.

"Demeter," Munkustrap said in a surprisingly gentle voice. "I told you…we can work this out. You have to trust me."

"You're a murderer," Demeter spat, her eyes fiery.

"You've been having dreams," he said gently. "I don't know what's going on with you lately. Arguing, fighting, drinking? I don't know what else I can do to get through to you! Isn't this everything you want? Why do you have to destroy that? Just believe me. Don't let the outside world get between us again. I'm here with you. That's all that matters." He crept closer.

"Don't come near me!" she hissed, her fur puffed out, ready to fight. Victoria let go of her clasp, backing away a bit. Certain her anger scared away the queen, Demeter was afraid she destroyed her chance of anyone believing her.

She suddenly felt very alone again.

"Demeter," he said evenly, staring at her with those green eyes. "I love you. Just stop this. Calm down."

With no one by her side, she felt abandoned. An entire tribe was against her, and she unaware what the day would bring…if it even was daytime or not. The sky was black as night due to the heavy rain clouds. There was a flash and the crash of thunder which made some of the cats in the junkyard scream, including Demeter. But they could cling to someone for comfort. She knew no comfort would come for her. A sob got caught in her throat.

A rain drop fell on her nose. Then another. And though the rest of the tribe responded to the sudden rainfall with shivers and annoyance, Demeter remembered the night where the sound of the rain was comforting to her. Free of mud, free of shadows, just the sound of the rain, and she remembered the only real comfort she had felt in the days that had past. "Munkustrap?" she asked, wanting to be enveloped by the feeling of warmth he gave when his presence was there.

"Yes, I'm right here," the silver tabby said tersely.

"Not you!" Demeter felt more determined. "Munkustrap?!"

"Would you _stop_ that! He's not—I'm…" A small fluttering in her stomach. He slipped! And his face _clearly_ showed it! "L-let me take you home," he said, trying to regain his composure. Even _he_ seemed to be shaking, though certainly not from the cold of the rain. He was just as exhausted as she was. "Let me take you home. You'll wake up tomorrow, and everything will be fine." He reached out a paw to her.

Victoria stepped in front of Demeter, making Munkustrap stop. "She doesn't want to talk to you," she said with a surprising amount of power for such a small queen.

Munkustrap made a slight movement, as though to shove Victoria out of the way. But a black paw came down on Munkustrap's shoulder.

"Come on," Alonzo said to the silver tom. "Let her cool—umph!" Munkustrap had turned so fast, Alonzo never saw the fist that punched him in the stomach.

"Oh, wow," Jemima whispered.

"His eyes are changing color!" Pouncival said in fear, and Demeter felt the kittens cowering behind her, including Victoria, who had lost her nerve, and was now crying against Plato's arm.

Munkustrap closed his eyes for a moment, and having been yellow one moment, they turned back to green when opened. He was left panting, and with a panicked, wild look in his eyes.

Then a voice came out over the cats gathered. "That is not Munkustrap." Everyone looked up to see Old Deuteronomy on top of a pile of junk, a small entourage of cats following. It seemed everyone in the junkyard was there now.

Demeter had never seen the tribe leader look so old. It seemed he had been crying not moments before. But now, his face simply looked angry. "Munkustrap has been buried by his human family in his backyard…" He looked over to Demeter, who was now sobbing with the intense feeling of relief.

"Oh, thank the Everlasting Cat!" she cried. "You finally believe me!" She thought she would faint right then and there, but when her legs tried to give weigh under her, there was a small crowd of kittens right behind her to hold her up. Bombalurina, finally, _finally_, stepped close to Demeter, holding onto her arm. Demeter was all too aware of the new paw holding onto her.

Old Deuteronomy lowered his head to the queen. "He had told me of their fondness of that name for him…their little tiger. I had hoped he had simply told you that once, even if he was embarrassed by it. But seeing the grave there…"

"It was…a heartfelt funeral," Demeter said in a soft voice. "They weeped for him."

"They placed his collar on a cross on their fireplace mantel," Old Deuteronomy finished. "You can see it from the window." His voice was breaking.

"I didn't know that," Demeter said between sobs.

Everything went still. There were whispers of, "Munkustrap is dead?" "He's dead?!" "How can he be dead?" "It's not true!" But the most heartbreaking of all was hearing Bombalurina next to Demeter let out a shuddering sigh, before admitting, "Everlasting Cat…I was the one who sent him out there…"

As one, the tribe returned their gaze to Munkustrap…well…Macavity, still in tabby form. He seemed to be having trouble breathing, as he looked back and forth for an escape, but was enclosed.

"What's the matter?" Demeter asked, her sorrow replaced by anger once again. "No energy left to make a grand exit?"

"You killed Mistoffelees?" the Rum Tum Tugger asked, backing as far away from the tom as possible.

The tom looked around to everyone, as the cats had deliberately encircled him, though kept their distance. They looked at him with shock, surprise, hatred, understanding.

"Reveal yourself!" said a voice from behind Old Deuteronomy, who turned out to be Coricopat, his fur on end.

"Imposter!" another cat called. This one, Jellylorum.

Something was thrown at the silver tom from the junk piles, and he backed away as though it were nothing. He turned his furious gaze on Demeter, catching her eye, and they were locked in a stare no one could break. And with very little help, the tension finally snapped.

The tom leapt forward at the queen, and screams broke out at the suddenness of his attack. Demeter, frozen in place, thought for a moment she would join the deceased sooner than she thought, and could only watch as the tom defied gravity just enough to attack her with.

But five toms leapt on him, grabbing his arms and holding him back. Admetus and Mungojerrie were on one arm, the Rum Tum Tugger and Skimbleshanks on another, and Alonzo with his arms around the tom's neck. And before everyone's eyes, the silver tom with black stripes and green eyes slowly melted away with the pouring rain, to be replaced by a ginger tom with yellow eyes who was struggling to get out of the grip of the toms.

"He stole you away from me!" he roared as the other toms tried to subdue the Napoleon of Crime. "He told you lies about me, and you _believed_ him! I _had_ to do what I did! He deserved to die, the fucking _liar_! He got what he wanted by lying, why shouldn't I? He's dead and buried and gone and never coming back. He'll never get between us again!"

Demeter took in a few shaky breaths as she watched this worn tom, exhausted by his overzealous use of his magic, still able to put up a massive struggle with five toms trying to hold him down. He was still _so_ strong. It seemed at that moment Macavity was invincible to everything. It never ended! She would never be free of him

Then she realized she was surrounded by cats who had huddle near her. Victoria to her right, Bombalurina to her left, kittens and other cats behind her. Together, they watched in horror the struggling tom. All of them were now victims of this tom. All of them could now understand her insanity in trying to make others understand.

"Get some rope!" Alonzo called over the sound of the rain, grunting as he tried to hold the tom.

Macavity's eyes shot over to Victoria. "I should have killed you when I had a chance," he said lowly, his voice clearly heard through all the commotion. "Another day, and without those damn kittens around, I could have made it look like a suicide." Victoria clutched onto Demeter's arm, staring in horror at the tom.

They had to be free of him _now_.

Carefully leading Victoria over to Bombalurina, Demeter stepped forward, despite the muttered warnings of the other cats. With her fur bristled, she glared down at the tom who had finally shown his true colors. "He's been holding that form for a long time," she announced coolly. "It should have weakened him enough that he won't be giving you the slip any time soon. I would act fast with whatever you plan on doing to him…"

"Demeter," the tom pleaded, causing Demeter to stop. "I love you. We could have been great together! How could you do this to me?! All I wanted was you! Why did you have to believe that bastard? I'm not sorry he's dead!"

"Shut up," Demeter said softly, then put her paws to her ears, "SHUT UP!"

Voices yelled from the crowd, "Gag him!" "Stop him!" "Kill him!"

"You went to his funeral?" Macavity asked, his menacing glare having deteriorated into a look Demeter had never seen in the ginger cat before - a look of betrayal, hatred, and madness mingled together in his sunken in eyes. "I should have stolen you away. I never should have trusted you! Let go of me you wretched pollicles!" He hissed to the toms who were now tying him down, with much effort.

Demeter paced, staring angrily at the tom, who was just barely contained by the ropes they had used to bind his paws to his feet in a kneeling position. How _easily_ he could get loose from that, and start his rampage over again. She heard someone call to get more rope, but that wouldn't stop him. He needed to be…

Demeter pushed past the faceless cats that stood in front of her, and grabbed small metallic pipe.

"I loved you Demeter," he said menacingly as the queen turned back to him. "I'm not leaving you. I'm not living without you! Do you hear me? You're never going to be rid of me. You're--"

"SHUT UP!" Demeter swung down the pipe. She could hear the screams of the cats surrounding her, see the movements to stop her.

Her arm, back, leg muscles felt like they had torn in her efforts. It felt as though her stomach disconnected from something vital and crashed into her other organs. It took all Demeter's strength to consciously stop herself.

But she did.

The pipe hovered over Macavity's face, only the rain making contact with him as it dripped off the end of the pipe. He stared at it, wide-eyed that it was nearly brought down on his face.

Panting, the queen dropped the pipe, clutching her stomach, gasping cries escaping her mouth. She could see the questioningly look on Macavity's face. Perhaps he knew she should have finished what she started as well. "No," she said lowly. "That's too kind for you…"

A moment of hesitation from everyone present. Then Bombalurina came up to the ginger tom and stuffed rags into his mouth, before using a long strip of a torn shirt to tie it around his mouth. Other cats came up with more ropes to further tie the cat down until he could barely struggle against the bonds.

Someone placed a paw on Demeter's shoulder. She jumped, looked back to see Jennyanydots with a sympathetic look on her face. She allowed herself to be led away by her.

Old Deuteronomy nodded. "We are Jellicles," he reminded the rest of the cats, though Demeter felt he wasn't including her in this speech. "We are not like him. We don't seek revenge."

The cats began to mutter. There was a small voice from the crowd, one of the kittens, who whispered loudly, "is he kidding? He killed Mistoffelees! And Munkustrap!"

"However," said the old tom. The rest of the cats went silent to hear what else was to be said. "His crimes, I am told, are a horrendous abuse of magic. What is done to punish his violation of these unspoken magical laws, done by other magical cats, is not a Jellicle matter, and we will do nothing to participate in… or _stop_ this." With that, Old Deuteronomy turned magnanimously away from the sight of the gagged, weakened ginger tom.

On cue, Coricopat and Tantomile emerged from behind him, their fur bristled in anger. Surely, they would have looked scarier were their fur not weighed down by the rain water. Gracefully, and with their eyes constantly remaining on the ginger tom, they climbed down the junk pile.

"He is to be stripped of his magic," Coricopat said.

"I vote by a blood letting," Tantomile said to her brother, her tear stained face screwed up in anger.

"That would kill him," Coricopat said matter-of-factly.

"You're right," Tantomile said. "It is far too simple a punishment for him. Hang him upside down by his digits, cut a magical vein in his jugular, and when he is sufficiently weakened, feed him to the pollicles."

"No," Coricopat said, sitting down, staring the ginger tom in his yellow eyes. "Magic replenishes. Each day we'll strip him of the magic he replenishes until he is so weakened and powerless, he will beg for us to kill him."

"You're thinking too rationally," Tantomile said, pacing in front of the tom, her fangs bared, her hackles risen. Then catching the gaze of the gagged tom, she hissed, "Tell me, Macavity, do you know what it is to be QUARTERED?!"

At this, Macavity actually looked scared for a moment.

This made Demeter smile.

"Take him out of our sight," Demeter said, a strange feeling of peace coming over her. "I don't care what you do with him…as long as he never comes back."

Tantomile turned to Demeter, her intense eyes locking on the queen, before bowing her head. "You can entrust that to us, Demeter," she said.

Coricopat walked past the toms who had been holding the weakened ginger cat. "Follow me," he said, seeming to enjoy the aspect of it all a little too much.

Macavity renewed his struggling as the toms went to pick him up and take him to his fate. With all the struggling, the tom seemed to be working the most with his mouth, trying to loosen the gag.

Demeter didn't want to see him taken away. She was done with him. Turning around, she began to walk away, to go somewhere serene and safe to sleep for days, if she had to. And she was glad the attention was finally off of her…

"Demeter!" The queen stopped. Macavity seemed to have worked the gag from his mouth. Though it was tied in tightly by the red queen, Demeter wouldn't imagine anything so simple as a gag would be held in place for long. "I never wanted to hurt you! I would never hurt you! This was all a misunderstanding. You have to believe me! Demeter? Demeter! Come back here! Demeter!?"

Demeter growled. He should never speak her name again.

The queen stooped down, picked up a rock, spun around. With precise accuracy, she threw the rock. It cut through the air.

A loud twack.

Macavity's head lulled to the side, as he fell unconscious.

And once out of her sight, Demeter never had to hear his voice again.


	11. Epilogue

_A/N: Why is the end always scary? Ah, too philosophical a question and too emo an author at the moment to pose such a question. But here it is...it took me a while to figure out how to do it. A lot of it is sooo...VISUAL. I wish I could have somehow videotaped it and put it up! But I am a slave to the written word, and so have to figure out how to do scenes that are so "visual" in my head and put it on paper...or word document. Though I answered Crawler's question, I figured just in case anyone else was wondering, Munkus was in the rain. Symbolically. To Sarah, yes, he DOES deserve something cruel for what he did! Tant and Cori will make sure of that. They won't tell me what, though, but more torturous a punishment than I could imagine. To Wolfjet, I debated about the rock thing, so thank you for liking it, hehe! To everyone else, you seem to forgotten the epilogue!!! Sheesh! Lol, anyways, here it is. And until the next story...if there is to be one...I bid thee adieu. Well, au revoir...adieu is a little more dramatic._

* * *

EPILOGUE 

In the days that came, the sky had freed itself of the congestion of storm clouds. The rain gave way to the typical London fog, and though it would work to dampen the fur of even the most fastidious cats, it was a welcome change.

Demeter found herself to be surprisingly stronger than she ever thought she could be. She was certain, when everything was over (considering that she survived), that she would be bitter towards her tribe mates. She thought she would have enough of them, and never want to return to them. She knew for certain that when this was all over, she would never want to speak to the very cats she swore to protect.

But she didn't take into account that the cats would be in mourning. She had begun to think that the loss of Munkustrap only affected her; that he wasn't that important to the others. She had thought of him for so long as all hers, she forgot she shared the tom with the entire tribe. Though she went on to think the reason he died was because of her, she had almost forgotten that he also died in an effort to protect the tribe. That, and the loss of Mistoffelees, and they seemed too paralyzed with grief to know what to do with themselves anymore.

She didn't _want_ to feel close to them anymore, after what she had to go through with them. But when huddled together for the feeling of protection and family, for shelter from the storm that had begun to pour, the cats began to ask, "What do we do now?" And to her surprise, all the eyes of the tribe turned to her for an answer.

She would have thought she would have nothing to say to that, or she would have expected herself to back up into someone, hide her face, and say, "I don't know." But the only cat she would want to hide behind wasn't there to do so. So, she looked solemnly to her tribe mates, with a voice louder than she expected to come from her small frame, she told them, "We mourn."

And they did mourn…mostly through her. It was almost laughable, that after all she had been through, _they_ were the ones now crying on _her_ shoulder. And though she was broken hearted, relief over her situation finally being over made her feel no reason to mourn. _Almost_ no reason to mourn.

When she finally showed them the grave marker, she felt ashamed to not have any tears left. So she hid in the rosebush, and hoped they would leave her be, until finally they all left.

Now, under the rosebush, she looked serenely to the grave. It seemed a comfort to her, and she hoped that finally, she could feel or see his presence again. She felt dread trickling up her spine at the thought that she may never see him again, even if he _was_ a ghost. She needed to see him. She _needed_ to…

In time, the brightness of the sun trying to shine through the fog caused her eyes to grow weary. Exhaustion had taken its toll on her, and she hadn't slept right for weeks, it seemed. With little to fear anymore, she curled up tight against the chill of the fog, and allowed the feeling of sleep to wash over her.

"Ah, you just keep coming back for more, don't you?" Demeter jumped at the new voice. When she looked up, there was Munkustrap standing before her, smiling warmly at her. Looking as alive as ever, really.

"Munkustrap!" she squeaked, jumping up on her feet and running to him. Her arms outstretched, she leapt into his arms. He caught her, embracing her, purring softly. "I've missed you so much!"

"I know," he said, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"I love you."

"I love you, too." They stayed in their embrace for a while. Demeter relished in the warmth and the smell of him, the kisses she had missed and the feeling of him purring against her.

"You're back to normal," Demeter said, laying her head against his chest and feeling his soft fur.

"Well…" he hesitated. "I'm like this now because of you," he said, pulling her away by her shoulders so she could see him smile. "No more limbo. And I wanted to thank you for that." Demeter took his paw against her cheek, nuzzling it affectionately. "And I want you to do…two more things for me."

"Anything," she said, brushing his face with her paws, tickling his whiskers with her paw. She laughed at the half sneer he made at the feeling. "As long as Macavity is gone, I would do anything for you."

He clasped her paw and brought her against him, whispering in her ear, "Dance with me." Demeter smiled and nodded. She would never say no to that!

And so they danced, something known to humans as a waltz, to the music only they could hear. The low hanging fog made everything look almost too bright. Dew caught on the flowers and leaves nearby, and twinkled when catching passing light. The birds they usually ignored were chirping in the distance, safely hidden by the fog. They danced in the garden, for what Demeter wished to be an eternity. It felt right - euphoric. Just silver and gold, twirling together, without a care in the world.

Then after a while, she felt it time to ask. "What's the other favor?"

"Demeter," he said, stopping his waltz with her. She stayed with her paw clasped in his, her paw loosely on his shoulder, their bodies pressed together. He looked serious suddenly, and looked her straight in the eye. "You have to let me go."

"NO!" she said, grasping his fur, pulling him closer, if that were possible. As long as he was there, everything else was just a horrible dream, and he was there, always there, with her.

"You've cried for me," he said softly, gently wiping the tears that were beginning to fall down her cheek. "And you've mourned. And the only thing left is for you to let me go."

"I can't!" she cried, burying her face in his chest.

"You have to move on. I know you'll be fine."

"You're here with me now, why can't you stay with me?" she asked, her question nearly muffled by his fur.

He gently lifted her chin with his paw. "Because it's going to be a long time before you come to the Heaviside Layer with me."

"I'll ask Deuteronomy to send me to the Heaviside the next Ball," she said determinedly, frowning up at the tom.

"Not your time, and he knows that," he said. "You're destined for great things in our tribe. I'm not the one who needs you…I'm already gone. Shh, don't cry." He caressed her cheek as she was stifling her sobs. "You've done that enough for me. But the tribe needs you. And without Mistoffelees, they can use your intuition. You know all this, my love."

Demeter let out a sob, closing her eyes and letting her head fall against his chest. She grasped onto his fur. "I'll never forget you," she whispered.

"I know," he said. "But remember that I want you to be happy. Alright? Don't let memories of me stop you from doing what's important…alright?"

"You know me too well," she whispered, still clutching him tight. They were silent as she took in these last memories of him. Then she thought of the last moments with him alive, and it almost brought a smile to her face. Slowly lifting her head, she looked at his face – stern yet loving, as always.

She backed away a little, then a little more, still holding onto him, until they were tethered together only by their paws. And finally, reluctantly…she let go of his paw.

Demeter woke up, tears in her eyes, alone in the backyard. The beautiful roses were above her. The gravestone was in front of her. The fog had lifted, and the sun was beginning to come through. She let out a sigh, and got up.

Behind her was the human house that Munkustrap once belonged to. A smile flickered on her face as she remembered him telling her something about table scraps. They were probably missing having a cat as it were…and her family would have long forgotten about her, anyway.

She walked up to the familiar cat door before her, which would open a frightening world of possibilities. Of course she wondered what would become of her, but…if Munkustrap had faith in her… That she may once again find a place in the tribe, in the world. A world without him.

Frightening possibilities, yes. After cruelly being freed from the shadows of her past, she felt numb by what could happen now. But just a little braver, after what she did to finally protect those who spent most of their lives protecting her.

Demeter shook her head. Too many dreadful thoughts. For now, she would have to let it go, and jump through the cat door, to see what lie ahead.

_-Fin- _


End file.
